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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: face · degree · present · race · mate · bowl

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. present — there
  4. degree — temperature
  5. degree — from a university
  6. race — humankind
  7. mate — a partner
  8. mate — a friend
  9. face — to point toward
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. present — the time now
  12. face — part of the head
  13. race — a contest
  14. present — a gift
  15. degree — an amount
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. race — the arms race
  18. mate — to breed

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