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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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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 · wake · coach · land · arm · firm · pop

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. land — to come down
  4. face — to confront
  5. land — a country
  6. pop — music
  7. pop — to visit
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. land — ground
  10. degree — temperature
  11. degree — an amount
  12. firm — steady
  13. face — part of the head
  14. firm — decided
  15. degree — from a university
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. pop — soda
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. wake — a trail
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. face — to point toward
  24. arm — part of the body

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