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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. degree — an amount
  4. degree — from a university
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. snap — to click
  9. content — happy
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. content — the amount
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. mine — for digging
  15. face — to confront
  16. field — for sport
  17. face — part of the head
  18. field — farmland
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. lie — to recline
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. field — a subject
  24. degree — temperature

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