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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · root · shower · game · lie · clip · face · swing

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. root — of a plant
  3. clip — to cut
  4. game — wild animals
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — temperature
  7. face — part of the head
  8. face — to confront
  9. swing — music
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. degree — an amount
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. face — to point toward
  15. shower — rain
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — a video
  18. lie — to recline
  19. swing — to play on
  20. swing — in golf
  21. root — of a word
  22. game — a match
  23. shower — to wash
  24. root — the cause

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