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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: arm · face · racket · drill · net · land · degree · roll

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. land — to come down
  3. degree — from a university
  4. roll — a cake
  5. drill — the tool
  6. face — to confront
  7. net — for catching
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. land — a country
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. net — after costs
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. net — in sport
  16. drill — army training
  17. drill — a practice
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. face — part of the head
  20. roll — a list
  21. degree — temperature
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. land — ground
  24. face — to point toward

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