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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. face — to confront
  3. club — for golf
  4. object — to protest
  5. face — part of the head
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. cold — an illness
  9. degree — temperature
  10. club — for dancing
  11. stem — to come from
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — from a university
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. object — a thing
  17. drill — army training
  18. object — an aim
  19. pass — a permit
  20. cold — not warm
  21. club — a group
  22. drill — the tool
  23. face — to point toward
  24. stem — a stem cell

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