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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.

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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: spell · wind · cold · face · degree · kid · present · fan

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. kid — child
  3. face — part of the head
  4. degree — an amount
  5. spell — a short time
  6. spell — magic
  7. degree — temperature
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. present — there
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. kid — to tease
  12. spell — letters
  13. face — to confront
  14. degree — from a university
  15. cold — an illness
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. present — the time now
  18. present — a gift
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wind — moving air
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. face — to point toward
  24. wind — moving air

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