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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. face — to point toward
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. chip — for betting
  5. wake — a trail
  6. degree — from a university
  7. face — part of the head
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. face — to confront
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. drill — a practice
  16. chip — to eat
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cell — a phone
  19. drill — army training
  20. drill — the tool
  21. degree — an amount
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. cell — in biology
  24. chip — in a computer

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