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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
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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 · game · lie · last · rule · roll · wax · face

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. game — a match
  4. last — final
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. face — part of the head
  7. game — wild animals
  8. rule — a law
  9. wax — to grow
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. lie — to recline
  12. degree — an amount
  13. roll — a list
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — temperature
  18. rule — government
  19. face — to confront
  20. last — finally
  21. last — to go on
  22. face — to point toward
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. wax — in the ear

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