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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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Word bank
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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: degree · mine · snap · cap · nail · face

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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. mine — belonging to me
  4. cap — a hat
  5. cap — a lid
  6. degree — from a university
  7. face — to point toward
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. degree — temperature
  10. snap — to click
  11. face — part of the head
  12. mine — for digging
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. cap — of ice
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. snap — to speak sharply

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