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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: degree · net · sharp · track · deal · face · spell · cold

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. track — a song
  3. track — to keep track
  4. spell — letters
  5. cold — an illness
  6. net — after costs
  7. net — in sport
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. sharp — clever
  10. degree — temperature
  11. face — to point toward
  12. deal — to handle
  13. net — for catching
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. degree — an amount
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. spell — a short time
  18. cold — not warm
  19. track — a path
  20. degree — from a university
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. spell — magic
  23. face — part of the head
  24. face — to confront

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