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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. face — to confront
  3. face — to point toward
  4. degree — temperature
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. root — of a word
  7. march — music
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. root — of a plant
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. march — the month
  14. game — a match
  15. degree — an amount
  16. game — wild animals
  17. root — the cause
  18. march — the month
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. chair — a leader
  22. face — part of the head
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. chair — to sit on

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