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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. net — in sport
  3. degree — from a university
  4. deal — to handle
  5. swing — in golf
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. face — part of the head
  8. swing — to play on
  9. kid — to tease
  10. stem — to come from
  11. mate — to breed
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. net — after costs
  14. degree — temperature
  15. swing — music
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. kid — child
  18. face — to confront
  19. net — for catching
  20. mate — a friend
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. degree — an amount
  23. face — to point toward
  24. deal — an agreement

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