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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. face — part of the head
  3. mug — to rob
  4. bat — the animal
  5. degree — temperature
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. face — to point toward
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. mug — a face
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. mug — a cup
  14. ball — a dance
  15. degree — from a university
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. ball — a great time
  23. face — to confront
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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