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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: degree · straw · saw · roll · date · face · dip · mouse

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — from a university
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. roll — a cake
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — the tool
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. face — to point toward
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. roll — a list
  20. date — the fruit
  21. face — to confront
  22. degree — temperature
  23. dip — to sink
  24. face — part of the head

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