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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. stock — shares
  3. face — part of the head
  4. wound — an injury
  5. face — to point toward
  6. face — to confront
  7. dip — to sink
  8. file — a tool
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. deal — to handle
  16. degree — an amount
  17. file — a document
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. file — a line of people
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. stock — goods
  24. degree — temperature

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