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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  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. degree — from a university
  2. chip — to eat
  3. face — part of the head
  4. shower — rain
  5. face — to point toward
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. wax — to grow
  8. degree — an amount
  9. court — of a king
  10. branch — a division
  11. press — to push
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. shower — to wash
  16. court — for sport
  17. press — newspapers
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. face — to confront
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. press — a publisher
  22. chip — for betting
  23. court — of law
  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