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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 · trunk · spring · degree · pitch · cap · swing · straw

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. face — to confront
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. pitch — completely
  6. swing — to play on
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. face — to point toward
  11. face — part of the head
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. swing — in golf
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. degree — an amount
  16. spring — the season
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. swing — music
  19. cap — of ice
  20. spring — a coil
  21. spring — of water
  22. degree — from a university
  23. cap — a lid
  24. cap — a hat

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