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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: board · face · degree · cold · scale · shower · leaves · last

  1. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. cold — not warm
  4. shower — rain
  5. face — to point toward
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — from a university
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. face — part of the head
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. last — finally
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. degree — temperature
  14. scale — in music
  15. last — to go on
  16. face — to confront
  17. scale — size or range
  18. board — a committee
  19. shower — to wash
  20. last — final
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. board — to get on
  24. cold — an illness

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