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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: field · hand · last · degree · bowl · row · face · mouse

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. last — final
  3. degree — an amount
  4. row — a line
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. field — farmland
  8. row — to paddle
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. hand — help
  12. last — to go on
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. field — a subject
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. last — finally
  17. face — to confront
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. degree — temperature
  20. face — part of the head
  21. hand — in cards
  22. field — for sport
  23. degree — from a university
  24. bowl — a football final

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