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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. key — in music
  3. face — to confront
  4. row — a line
  5. degree — from a university
  6. rash — hasty
  7. spring — a coil
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. spring — the season
  11. degree — temperature
  12. game — a match
  13. chip — to eat
  14. game — wild animals
  15. spring — of water
  16. key — for a lock
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. face — part of the head
  19. chip — for betting
  20. rash — a series
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. row — to paddle
  23. face — to point toward
  24. key — the most important part

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