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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. face — part of the head
  3. file — a tool
  4. face — to point toward
  5. file — a line of people
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. lean — to bend
  9. degree — an amount
  10. pit — in a race
  11. drill — a practice
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. sharp — clever
  14. degree — temperature
  15. face — to confront
  16. pit — a hole
  17. drill — the tool
  18. degree — from a university
  19. game — a match
  20. file — a document
  21. lean — thin
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. drill — army training
  24. sharp — with an edge

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