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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: net · mine · pitch · cold · squash · branch · vault · face

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. face — part of the head
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. pitch — completely
  6. squash — the sport
  7. branch — a division
  8. vault — a safe
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. net — in sport
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. squash — to crush
  15. mine — for digging
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. cold — not warm
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. face — to point toward
  21. net — for catching
  22. net — after costs
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. cold — an illness

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com