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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 · degree · hide · race · toast · ground · spring · pitch

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. toast — bread
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. spring — of water
  5. degree — an amount
  6. ground — a position
  7. ground — the earth
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. face — part of the head
  10. spring — the season
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. degree — from a university
  13. degree — temperature
  14. race — the arms race
  15. spring — a coil
  16. ground — crushed
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. face — to confront
  19. race — a contest
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. face — to point toward
  22. race — humankind
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. pitch — completely

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