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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. spell — letters
  3. degree — an amount
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. spring — of water
  6. pound — a weight
  7. degree — temperature
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. pitch — completely
  10. spring — a coil
  11. plane — a tool
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. bear — the animal
  15. degree — from a university
  16. bear — the animal
  17. spell — magic
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. spell — a short time
  21. spring — the season
  22. face — part of the head
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. face — to point toward

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