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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. shower — rain
  3. degree — from a university
  4. ground — the earth
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. ground — a position
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. ground — crushed
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. degree — an amount
  12. dip — to sink
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. face — part of the head
  15. snap — to click
  16. pitch — completely
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. degree — temperature
  19. wake — a trail
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. shower — to wash
  23. face — to point toward
  24. face — to confront

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