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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. bass — low music
  3. net — after costs
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. bass — the fish
  6. cell — a phone
  7. net — in sport
  8. cell — in biology
  9. face — to confront
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. season — of the year
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. degree — temperature
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. degree — from a university
  17. bat — the animal
  18. net — for catching
  19. degree — an amount
  20. season — in sport
  21. face — part of the head
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. season — to add flavour

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