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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. degree — from a university
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. root — the cause
  5. face — to confront
  6. rest — what's left
  7. face — to point toward
  8. degree — temperature
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. degree — an amount
  12. root — of a plant
  13. rest — a break
  14. root — of a word
  15. sharp — clever
  16. bulb — for light
  17. bulb — for light
  18. rest — what's left
  19. branch — a division
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. game — a match
  22. face — part of the head
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. branch — of a tree

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