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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: fall · cabinet · land · rest · cold · lean · degree · face

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. cold — not warm
  3. lean — to bend
  4. degree — an amount
  5. land — to come down
  6. face — part of the head
  7. land — ground
  8. rest — what's left
  9. land — a country
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. degree — temperature
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. cold — an illness
  14. fall — to drop
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. rest — a break
  19. degree — from a university
  20. lean — thin
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — the season
  23. face — to confront
  24. rest — what's left

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