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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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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: face · roll · patient · degree · stock · fall · lean · spell

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. degree — an amount
  4. stock — goods
  5. spell — letters
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. spell — magic
  8. lean — thin
  9. fall — the season
  10. fall — to drop
  11. face — to confront
  12. degree — temperature
  13. face — part of the head
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. stock — shares
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. fall — to drop
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. degree — from a university
  21. spell — a short time
  22. lean — to bend
  23. face — to point toward
  24. roll — a list

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