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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 120 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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. pit — in a race
  4. face — to point toward
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. face — part of the head
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. degree — temperature
  9. game — wild animals
  10. wound — an injury
  11. stem — to come from
  12. face — to confront
  13. drill — a practice
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. pit — a hole
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. drill — army training
  20. degree — from a university
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. degree — an amount
  23. drill — the tool
  24. wound — an injury

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