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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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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: wake · dip · deal · bat · cap · degree · face · tear

  1. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. face — to confront
  3. face — to point toward
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. tear — from crying
  6. degree — temperature
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. cap — a lid
  9. face — part of the head
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. wake — a trail
  13. tear — from crying
  14. deal — to handle
  15. cap — a hat
  16. tear — to rip
  17. degree — an amount
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. cap — of ice
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. degree — from a university
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — the animal

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