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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: firm · pound · face · mine · degree · stick · spell · bat

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. degree — from a university
  4. face — to confront
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. face — to point toward
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. spell — magic
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. spell — a short time
  13. firm — a company
  14. firm — decided
  15. mine — for digging
  16. firm — steady
  17. degree — temperature
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. pound — a weight
  21. degree — an amount
  22. face — part of the head
  23. bat — the animal
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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