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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. degree — an amount
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. snap — to click
  6. face — to point toward
  7. degree — from a university
  8. rash — hasty
  9. rash — a series
  10. face — part of the head
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. court — of a king
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. present — there
  15. present — a gift
  16. degree — temperature
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. court — of law
  19. face — to confront
  20. court — for sport
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. wake — a trail

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