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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: pound · degree · row · face · march · deal

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. degree — temperature
  3. face — to confront
  4. face — to point toward
  5. pound — a weight
  6. march — the month
  7. face — part of the head
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. march — music
  10. deal — to handle
  11. degree — from a university
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. row — to paddle
  15. row — a line
  16. march — the month
  17. degree — an amount
  18. pound — to hit hard

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