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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. rock — music
  4. mate — a friend
  5. mate — to breed
  6. face — part of the head
  7. face — to point toward
  8. ground — the earth
  9. degree — from a university
  10. rock — a stone
  11. chest — of your body
  12. game — wild animals
  13. saw — the tool
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. degree — an amount
  18. saw — the tool
  19. game — a match
  20. face — to confront
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. mate — a partner
  23. ground — a position
  24. degree — temperature

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