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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. degree — temperature
  3. face — to confront
  4. face — to point toward
  5. face — part of the head
  6. vault — a safe
  7. ball — a great time
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. degree — from a university
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. march — the month
  17. degree — an amount
  18. march — music
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. cold — not warm
  21. ball — a dance
  22. march — the month
  23. cold — an illness
  24. nail — on a finger

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