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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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. bear — the animal
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. bear — the animal
  6. ball — a dance
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. degree — from a university
  9. saw — the tool
  10. ball — a great time
  11. scale — size or range
  12. race — humankind
  13. degree — temperature
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. scale — in music
  18. face — part of the head
  19. face — to confront
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. bark — to shout
  22. race — the arms race
  23. race — a contest
  24. saw — the tool

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