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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 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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. face — to confront
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. face — part of the head
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. face — to point toward
  8. bear — the animal
  9. branch — a division
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. degree — temperature
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. degree — an amount
  24. cabinet — ministers

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