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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 124 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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bat — the animal
  3. cell — in biology
  4. face — part of the head
  5. face — to confront
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. cell — a phone
  11. rush — hurry
  12. face — to point toward
  13. wax — to grow
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — temperature
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. spring — of water
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. spring — the season
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. fork — in a road
  22. spring — a coil
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. rush — to hurry

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