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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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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: wind · face · degree · lean · content · toast · cabinet · race

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. face — to confront
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — temperature
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. wind — moving air
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. lean — to bend
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. degree — from a university
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. race — the arms race
  17. face — part of the head
  18. face — to point toward
  19. content — the amount
  20. race — humankind
  21. content — happy
  22. race — a contest
  23. toast — bread
  24. lean — to rest against

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