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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. field — farmland
  3. present — a gift
  4. face — to point toward
  5. face — part of the head
  6. field — for sport
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. face — to confront
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. degree — an amount
  12. shower — to wash
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. present — the time now
  15. shower — rain
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. bark — to shout
  22. field — a subject
  23. degree — temperature
  24. present — there

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