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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. cap — of ice
  3. ground — the earth
  4. vault — a safe
  5. bark — to shout
  6. cap — a hat
  7. march — the month
  8. bass — the fish
  9. march — music
  10. cap — a lid
  11. degree — from a university
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. bass — low music
  15. march — the month
  16. ground — a position
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. degree — temperature
  19. face — to point toward
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. face — to confront
  22. ground — crushed
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. face — part of the head

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