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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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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: spring · net · race · craft · degree · rock · saw · face

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  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. face — to confront
  2. net — for catching
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. saw — the tool
  6. race — the arms race
  7. face — to point toward
  8. rock — music
  9. race — humankind
  10. saw — the tool
  11. craft — boats
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — of water
  14. face — part of the head
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — an amount
  17. spring — a coil
  18. net — after costs
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. net — in sport
  21. race — a contest
  22. craft — a skill
  23. rock — a stone
  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