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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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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: ball · chair · mark · wind · degree · face

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. mark — a grade
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. degree — an amount
  5. degree — from a university
  6. face — to point toward
  7. mark — a trace
  8. wind — moving air
  9. ball — a great time
  10. face — to confront
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. face — part of the head
  15. wind — moving air
  16. ball — a dance
  17. chair — a leader
  18. ball — a round shape

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