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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: cabinet · degree · face · last · mug · nail · swing · clip

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. face — to confront
  3. face — part of the head
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. swing — in golf
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. swing — to play on
  9. last — final
  10. last — to go on
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — from a university
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. mug — a face
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — a video
  19. face — to point toward
  20. mug — a cup
  21. swing — music
  22. mug — to rob
  23. clip — for paper
  24. last — finally

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