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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 120 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 felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. cue — for pool
  4. degree — from a university
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. cue — a signal
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. degree — an amount
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cue — a hint
  14. sharp — clever
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. face — to point toward
  20. face — to confront
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. degree — temperature
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. sharp — exactly

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