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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: cold · degree · face · mouse · bowl · chair · band · file

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. file — a line of people
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. band — a ring
  5. file — a document
  6. face — part of the head
  7. file — a tool
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. band — a music group
  10. chair — a leader
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. degree — from a university
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. cold — not warm
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — temperature
  19. face — to confront
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. cold — an illness
  24. bowl — a dish

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