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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  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 — an amount
  2. face — to confront
  3. degree — from a university
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bulb — for light
  6. bulb — for light
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. stem — to come from
  9. wind — moving air
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. face — part of the head
  19. sharp — clever
  20. face — to point toward
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. fan — a supporter
  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