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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. degree — an amount
  4. face — part of the head
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — temperature
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. bat — the animal
  11. mug — to rob
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. court — of a king
  15. wound — an injury
  16. face — to confront
  17. mug — a face
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. court — for sport
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. mug — a cup
  23. court — of law
  24. face — to point toward

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