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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  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. face — to confront
  2. ground — a position
  3. present — the time now
  4. degree — an amount
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. present — there
  7. file — a line of people
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. ground — crushed
  10. sharp — clever
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. present — a gift
  15. degree — from a university
  16. deal — to handle
  17. face — part of the head
  18. file — a document
  19. face — to point toward
  20. ground — the earth
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. file — a tool
  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