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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. degree — an amount
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. degree — temperature
  6. scale — in music
  7. face — to confront
  8. face — part of the head
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. fine — all right
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. ball — a dance
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. ball — a great time
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. degree — from a university
  17. face — to point toward
  18. chip — to eat
  19. chip — for betting
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. scale — size or range
  23. stem — to come from
  24. stem — of a plant

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