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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: sharp · ground · last · degree · face · kid · wake · field

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. wake — a trail
  3. kid — to tease
  4. ground — the earth
  5. last — to go on
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. ground — crushed
  8. last — finally
  9. face — to confront
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. degree — from a university
  12. field — farmland
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. degree — temperature
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. degree — an amount
  17. ground — a position
  18. last — final
  19. face — part of the head
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. kid — child
  22. field — a subject
  23. sharp — clever
  24. field — for sport

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