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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. degree — temperature
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. chest — a box
  5. spell — a short time
  6. chest — of your body
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. degree — from a university
  9. shower — to wash
  10. degree — an amount
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. spell — magic
  14. game — wild animals
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. shower — rain
  17. game — a match
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. chest — of your body
  20. face — to point toward
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. spell — letters
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. face — part of the head

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