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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · bark · chip · fall · mark · face · wound · land

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. land — to come down
  4. land — ground
  5. face — to confront
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. degree — an amount
  9. fall — to drop
  10. degree — from a university
  11. fall — to drop
  12. chip — to eat
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. wound — an injury
  15. bark — to shout
  16. degree — temperature
  17. land — a country
  18. mark — a grade
  19. face — to point toward
  20. chip — for betting
  21. fall — the season
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. wound — an injury
  24. mark — a trace

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