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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.

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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. cell — in biology
  3. degree — temperature
  4. swing — in golf
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. content — happy
  7. content — the amount
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. face — to confront
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. degree — an amount
  12. face — to point toward
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. saw — the tool
  16. saw — the tool
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. cell — a phone
  19. pitch — completely
  20. face — part of the head
  21. swing — to play on
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. swing — music
  24. degree — from a university

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