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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. swing — music
  4. clip — for paper
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. drill — army training
  7. swing — to play on
  8. drill — a practice
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. degree — from a university
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. face — to point toward
  15. cold — an illness
  16. clip — to cut
  17. swing — in golf
  18. face — to confront
  19. degree — temperature
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. clip — a video
  22. cold — not warm
  23. degree — an amount
  24. drill — the tool

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