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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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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: tear · face · degree · last · stick · trunk · pitch · perch

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. face — part of the head
  3. tear — to rip
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. face — to confront
  7. face — to point toward
  8. last — finally
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. last — to go on
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. tear — from crying
  14. perch — the fish
  15. degree — temperature
  16. last — final
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. pitch — completely
  19. degree — an amount
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. tear — from crying
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. perch — for a bird

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