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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. land — to come down
  3. degree — an amount
  4. degree — temperature
  5. land — ground
  6. object — a thing
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. face — to confront
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — not warm
  16. object — to protest
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. face — part of the head
  19. degree — from a university
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wound — an injury
  22. bark — to shout
  23. object — an aim
  24. land — a country

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