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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. degree — temperature
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. land — to come down
  5. cell — in biology
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. land — ground
  8. degree — an amount
  9. face — to point toward
  10. land — a country
  11. wind — moving air
  12. face — part of the head
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. game — wild animals
  19. face — to confront
  20. pitch — completely
  21. game — a match
  22. degree — from a university
  23. cell — a phone
  24. bowl — to roll

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