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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. face — to confront
  3. degree — from a university
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. game — wild animals
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. game — a match
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. prune — to trim
  10. ground — crushed
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. degree — temperature
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. saw — the tool
  15. degree — an amount
  16. face — part of the head
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. ground — the earth
  19. face — to point toward
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. saw — the tool
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. chair — a leader
  24. ground — a position

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