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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: bound · deal · bowl · row · bark · face · pitch · degree

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. pitch — completely
  3. bound — certain
  4. deal — to handle
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. bound — obliged
  7. degree — temperature
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. row — a line
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. degree — from a university
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. bound — tied together
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. row — to paddle
  21. face — to confront
  22. bark — to shout
  23. face — to point toward
  24. face — part of the head

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