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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. land — a country
  3. land — to come down
  4. face — part of the head
  5. lie — to recline
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. content — happy
  9. face — to confront
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. degree — an amount
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. kid — child
  15. pitch — completely
  16. plane — a tool
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. land — ground
  19. degree — from a university
  20. content — the amount
  21. kid — to tease
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. lie — an untruth
  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