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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. court — of a king
  4. face — part of the head
  5. cold — an illness
  6. pit — a hole
  7. degree — temperature
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pit — in a race
  11. face — to confront
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. snap — to click
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. court — for sport
  17. degree — from a university
  18. court — of law
  19. degree — an amount
  20. lean — to bend
  21. kid — child
  22. lean — thin
  23. cold — not warm
  24. kid — to tease

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