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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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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: bank · face · cold · rush · swing · cell · board · branch

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. swing — to play on
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bank — for money
  7. board — to get on
  8. face — part of the head
  9. branch — a division
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. face — to confront
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. board — a committee
  14. cell — a phone
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bank — for money
  18. rush — hurry
  19. bank — of a river
  20. swing — in golf
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. swing — music
  23. cell — in biology
  24. board — a flat piece

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