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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. rush — hurry
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — temperature
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. face — to point toward
  8. cell — in biology
  9. band — a music group
  10. degree — an amount
  11. face — part of the head
  12. snap — to click
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. cell — a phone
  19. chip — for betting
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. band — a ring
  23. chip — to eat
  24. chip — in a computer

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