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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  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. court — for sport
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. drill — a practice
  4. shower — to wash
  5. degree — temperature
  6. ground — the earth
  7. face — to point toward
  8. face — part of the head
  9. shower — rain
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. degree — an amount
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. drill — army training
  14. degree — from a university
  15. court — of law
  16. ground — crushed
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. ground — a position
  19. face — to confront
  20. court — of a king
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. patient — a sick person
  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