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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. rule — government
  3. ball — a dance
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. field — farmland
  6. root — of a word
  7. root — the cause
  8. object — to protest
  9. object — an aim
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. ball — a great time
  12. degree — temperature
  13. face — to confront
  14. object — a thing
  15. field — for sport
  16. face — part of the head
  17. root — of a plant
  18. field — a subject
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. face — to point toward
  22. degree — an amount
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. rule — a law

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