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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. face — to confront
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. degree — from a university
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. board — to get on
  7. band — a ring
  8. board — a committee
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. degree — an amount
  11. face — part of the head
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. bore — to drill
  14. bore — to tire
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. saw — the tool
  17. band — a music group
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. degree — temperature
  20. saw — the tool
  21. row — to paddle
  22. wake — a trail
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. row — a line

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