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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: pit · mine · hand · bark · shower · degree · face · march

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. bark — to shout
  5. face — to confront
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. march — the month
  8. degree — an amount
  9. mine — for digging
  10. pit — in a race
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. shower — rain
  13. pit — a hole
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. march — music
  16. hand — in cards
  17. shower — to wash
  18. degree — temperature
  19. face — to point toward
  20. hand — help
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. march — the month
  23. degree — from a university
  24. mine — an explosive

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