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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: face · wind · branch · wake · rock · spell · shower · snap

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. spell — a short time
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. shower — to wash
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. shower — rain
  8. rock — music
  9. wind — moving air
  10. branch — a division
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. spell — letters
  15. snap — to click
  16. face — to point toward
  17. rock — a stone
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. wake — a trail
  21. face — to confront
  22. spell — magic
  23. branch — of a bank
  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