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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 116 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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. degree — an amount
  5. last — final
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. chip — to eat
  8. face — to confront
  9. branch — a division
  10. face — to point toward
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. last — to go on
  13. last — finally
  14. degree — from a university
  15. cold — an illness
  16. dip — to sink
  17. season — of the year
  18. chip — for betting
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. season — in sport
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — not warm
  24. season — to add flavour

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