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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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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: tear · stock · face · degree · object · chair

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. object — a thing
  3. degree — temperature
  4. chair — a leader
  5. tear — to rip
  6. degree — an amount
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. object — to protest
  9. stock — shares
  10. tear — from crying
  11. face — to confront
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. tear — from crying
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. face — part of the head
  16. object — an aim
  17. degree — from a university
  18. stock — goods

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