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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 120 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: face · branch · current · stock · prune · field · wind · cabinet

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wind — moving air
  4. branch — a division
  5. current — happening now
  6. stock — goods
  7. field — for sport
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. field — farmland
  11. current — of water
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. face — to point toward
  15. stock — shares
  16. wind — moving air
  17. prune — to trim
  18. face — part of the head
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. current — electric
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. field — a subject

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