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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. spell — letters
  3. spell — magic
  4. snap — to click
  5. face — to point toward
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. bass — low music
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. bass — the fish
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. key — the most important part
  14. face — part of the head
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. face — to confront
  17. degree — an amount
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. key — for a lock
  22. spell — a short time
  23. degree — temperature
  24. key — in music

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