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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 120 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
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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: degree · current · shower · bat · pitch · straw · lie · face

  1. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. current — electric
  3. pitch — completely
  4. bat — the animal
  5. shower — rain
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. current — happening now
  8. current — of water
  9. degree — an amount
  10. degree — from a university
  11. face — to point toward
  12. face — part of the head
  13. lie — to recline
  14. face — to confront
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. shower — to wash
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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