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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. face — part of the head
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — to cut
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. spell — letters
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. degree — an amount
  11. stem — to come from
  12. spell — a short time
  13. degree — from a university
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. spell — magic
  16. date — the fruit
  17. shower — to wash
  18. face — to confront
  19. shower — rain
  20. degree — temperature
  21. clip — a video
  22. bear — the animal
  23. bear — the animal
  24. bear — to put up with

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