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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 120 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: field · face · wave · drill · degree · patient · deal · last

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. face — part of the head
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. last — to go on
  7. drill — the tool
  8. drill — a practice
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. deal — to handle
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — for sport
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. face — to confront
  16. field — a subject
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. face — to point toward
  19. last — final
  20. last — finally
  21. degree — an amount
  22. drill — army training
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. deal — an agreement

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