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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. degree — an amount
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. fall — the season
  5. ground — crushed
  6. degree — temperature
  7. game — wild animals
  8. face — to confront
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. game — a match
  11. ground — the earth
  12. bass — low music
  13. face — part of the head
  14. ground — a position
  15. fall — to drop
  16. bass — the fish
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. prune — to trim
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. degree — from a university
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. fall — to drop
  24. prune — to trim

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