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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: rash · pop · face · bank · degree · land · squash · last

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. degree — from a university
  3. last — final
  4. last — finally
  5. bank — for money
  6. face — part of the head
  7. rash — hasty
  8. last — to go on
  9. bank — of a river
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. rash — a series
  12. degree — temperature
  13. face — to point toward
  14. pop — music
  15. squash — the sport
  16. land — ground
  17. pop — soda
  18. pop — to visit
  19. bank — for money
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. land — a country
  22. squash — to crush
  23. land — to come down
  24. degree — an amount

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