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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 had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. pitch — completely
  4. mate — to breed
  5. mate — a partner
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. face — to point toward
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — to tease
  10. degree — an amount
  11. shower — to wash
  12. hand — in cards
  13. shower — rain
  14. degree — temperature
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. bound — obliged
  17. hand — help
  18. bound — certain
  19. mate — a friend
  20. kid — child
  21. bound — tied together
  22. degree — from a university
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. face — to confront

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