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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. degree — from a university
  3. chest — of your body
  4. face — part of the head
  5. face — to point toward
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. face — to confront
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. chest — a box
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. degree — temperature
  14. key — in music
  15. key — the most important part
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. chest — of your body
  18. fall — the season
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. degree — an amount
  22. key — for a lock
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — to drop

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