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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: degree · face · content · lie · hide · drill · bank · fall

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. bank — for money
  4. content — happy
  5. degree — temperature
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. fall — to drop
  8. drill — the tool
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. drill — a practice
  12. fall — to drop
  13. drill — army training
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. degree — from a university
  16. lie — to recline
  17. fall — the season
  18. face — to point toward
  19. face — to confront
  20. bank — of a river
  21. content — the amount
  22. bank — for money
  23. face — part of the head
  24. hide — to keep secret

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