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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. scale — in music
  3. lie — to recline
  4. degree — an amount
  5. face — to point toward
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. hand — help
  8. game — a match
  9. degree — temperature
  10. face — to confront
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. face — part of the head
  13. scale — size or range
  14. hand — in cards
  15. ground — crushed
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. ground — a position
  18. ground — the earth
  19. degree — from a university
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. game — wild animals
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. patient — a sick person

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