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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: wind · chest · pop · branch · bank · kid · press · face

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. pop — soda
  4. face — to confront
  5. press — a publisher
  6. pop — music
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. kid — child
  9. face — to point toward
  10. kid — to tease
  11. pop — to visit
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bank — of a river
  14. chest — a box
  15. wind — moving air
  16. chest — of your body
  17. press — newspapers
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. branch — a division
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. press — to push
  22. bank — for money
  23. face — part of the head
  24. wind — moving air

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