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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. land — ground
  3. ground — a position
  4. degree — an amount
  5. snap — to click
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. face — part of the head
  8. spring — a coil
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. ground — the earth
  11. face — to point toward
  12. spring — of water
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. stand — to bear
  17. land — a country
  18. spring — the season
  19. face — to confront
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. land — to come down
  23. degree — temperature
  24. ground — crushed

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