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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. shower — to wash
  3. scale — size or range
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. court — of law
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — temperature
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. face — part of the head
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. vault — a safe
  14. degree — from a university
  15. face — to confront
  16. court — for sport
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. court — of a king
  19. shower — rain
  20. scale — in music
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wake — a trail
  23. wound — an injury
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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