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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. degree — temperature
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. perch — the fish
  5. cold — an illness
  6. wind — moving air
  7. degree — an amount
  8. degree — from a university
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. face — to confront
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. face — part of the head
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wind — moving air
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. face — to point toward
  19. roll — a list
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. roll — a cake
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. bowl — a football final

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