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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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. ball — a great time
  4. face — part of the head
  5. spell — a short time
  6. firm — steady
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. degree — an amount
  9. firm — decided
  10. spell — magic
  11. firm — a company
  12. face — to confront
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. capital — a city
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. dip — to sink
  17. mine — for digging
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. ball — a dance
  21. spell — letters
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — money
  24. degree — temperature

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