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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: charge · mate · pitch · race · face · stem · degree · band

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. face — part of the head
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. charge — electricity
  5. race — humankind
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. mate — to breed
  9. race — a contest
  10. band — a ring
  11. pitch — completely
  12. band — a music group
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — from a university
  15. charge — a price
  16. mate — a friend
  17. degree — an amount
  18. race — the arms race
  19. mate — a partner
  20. charge — in control
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. face — to point toward
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. stem — to come from

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