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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: band · mate · face · fall · nail · date · ground · degree

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. face — part of the head
  3. band — a music group
  4. mate — a friend
  5. date — the fruit
  6. band — a ring
  7. degree — an amount
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. mate — to breed
  10. degree — from a university
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fall — to drop
  14. ground — the earth
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. fall — the season
  17. mate — a partner
  18. face — to point toward
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. ground — a position
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. face — to confront
  23. degree — temperature
  24. nail — for a hammer

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