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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. face — to confront
  3. degree — temperature
  4. key — for a lock
  5. stand — to bear
  6. key — in music
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. face — part of the head
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. date — the fruit
  11. degree — an amount
  12. band — a music group
  13. face — to point toward
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. spring — the season
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. spring — a coil
  20. plane — a tool
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. key — the most important part
  23. degree — from a university
  24. spring — of water

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