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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  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. face — to point toward
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. bat — the animal
  6. face — part of the head
  7. cell — in biology
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bark — to shout
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cell — a phone
  15. key — the most important part
  16. snap — to click
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. key — for a lock
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. face — to confront
  23. degree — an amount
  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