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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: face · date · chest · mug · degree · bark · mate · cabinet

  1. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. degree — from a university
  3. chest — of your body
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. mate — to breed
  6. mug — to rob
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. degree — temperature
  9. face — to confront
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. date — the fruit
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. mate — a partner
  14. mug — a cup
  15. chest — a box
  16. bark — to shout
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. mate — a friend
  20. chest — of your body
  21. face — to point toward
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. face — part of the head
  24. degree — an amount

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