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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: degree · pop · foot · date · spell · wound · race · face

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. wound — an injury
  4. face — to point toward
  5. race — humankind
  6. pop — to visit
  7. degree — from a university
  8. race — the arms race
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. face — part of the head
  11. foot — a measure
  12. face — to confront
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. pop — music
  15. date — the fruit
  16. degree — an amount
  17. spell — letters
  18. degree — temperature
  19. spell — magic
  20. spell — a short time
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. wound — an injury
  24. pop — soda

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