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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. face — to confront
  3. land — ground
  4. degree — from a university
  5. land — to come down
  6. club — a group
  7. degree — temperature
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. club — for golf
  10. face — part of the head
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. root — of a plant
  13. scale — in music
  14. object — to protest
  15. root — the cause
  16. root — of a word
  17. object — an aim
  18. face — to point toward
  19. land — a country
  20. scale — size or range
  21. object — a thing
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. degree — an amount

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