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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. degree — from a university
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. degree — temperature
  5. saw — the tool
  6. degree — an amount
  7. saw — the tool
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. object — a thing
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. object — an aim
  16. face — to point toward
  17. object — to protest
  18. roll — a list
  19. face — to confront
  20. wind — moving air
  21. face — part of the head
  22. wind — moving air
  23. roll — a cake
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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