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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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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. degree — from a university
  3. pit — in a race
  4. chest — of your body
  5. pit — a hole
  6. spell — magic
  7. spell — letters
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. degree — an amount
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. chest — of your body
  13. face — part of the head
  14. degree — temperature
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. face — to confront
  19. chest — a box
  20. spell — a short time
  21. snap — to click
  22. stand — to bear
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. face — to point toward

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