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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 116 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: degree · leaves · face · pop · rush · prune · race · tube

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. rush — hurry
  4. pop — soda
  5. prune — to trim
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. tube — the underground
  9. pop — music
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. tube — a container
  12. race — humankind
  13. race — a contest
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. face — part of the head
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. pop — to visit
  18. degree — from a university
  19. prune — to trim
  20. degree — temperature
  21. degree — an amount
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. race — the arms race
  24. face — to point toward

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