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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: ground · branch · face · tear · chest · mug · game · last

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. last — finally
  3. chest — of your body
  4. ground — a position
  5. tear — from crying
  6. chest — a box
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. ground — crushed
  9. last — to go on
  10. game — a match
  11. last — final
  12. mug — a face
  13. ground — the earth
  14. tear — from crying
  15. chest — of your body
  16. face — part of the head
  17. face — to point toward
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. mug — to rob
  20. game — wild animals
  21. tear — to rip
  22. branch — a division
  23. mug — a cup
  24. face — to confront

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