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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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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: face · degree · ground · object · cell · kick · pit · saw

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. object — to protest
  3. face — to point toward
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. object — a thing
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. object — an aim
  8. pit — a hole
  9. degree — an amount
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. saw — the tool
  12. ground — a position
  13. cell — in biology
  14. cell — a phone
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. ground — crushed
  17. pit — in a race
  18. kick — in football
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. saw — the tool
  21. face — part of the head
  22. ground — the earth
  23. face — to confront
  24. degree — temperature

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