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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. degree — an amount
  3. can — to be able to
  4. can — a tin
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. spring — of water
  8. degree — temperature
  9. spring — a coil
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. pitch — completely
  14. can — a tin
  15. spring — the season
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. face — to point toward
  18. plane — a tool
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — an injury
  21. degree — from a university
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. face — part of the head
  24. arm — a part of something

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