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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: net · game · chip · suit · degree · cue · cold · face

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. suit — in cards
  3. net — in sport
  4. game — a match
  5. cold — not warm
  6. degree — an amount
  7. net — for catching
  8. suit — to fit
  9. cold — an illness
  10. net — after costs
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. degree — temperature
  13. cue — for pool
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. cue — a signal
  16. chip — to eat
  17. face — to confront
  18. suit — clothes
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. game — wild animals
  21. face — part of the head
  22. chip — for betting
  23. degree — from a university
  24. cue — a hint

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