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

Word bank: chest · bound · stand · face · saw · degree

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. chest — of your body
  3. face — to point toward
  4. chest — of your body
  5. saw — the tool
  6. stand — to bear
  7. bound — certain
  8. face — part of the head
  9. bound — tied together
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. saw — the tool
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. degree — an amount
  14. bound — obliged
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. degree — temperature
  17. chest — a box
  18. degree — from a university

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