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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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. ground — a position
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. face — to point toward
  5. degree — temperature
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. shower — to wash
  11. ground — crushed
  12. scale — in music
  13. degree — an amount
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. face — part of the head
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. ground — the earth
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. shower — rain
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. kick — in football
  22. face — to confront
  23. scale — size or range
  24. bowl — a football final

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