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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — from a university
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. wind — moving air
  6. spell — magic
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. saw — the tool
  11. face — to confront
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. face — part of the head
  14. face — to point toward
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. spell — a short time
  19. wind — moving air
  20. saw — the tool
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. spell — letters
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. patient — a sick person

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