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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. cold — not warm
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. cold — an illness
  7. degree — temperature
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. mate — a partner
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. mate — to breed
  17. degree — an amount
  18. rule — government
  19. mate — a friend
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. rule — a law
  24. chest — of your body

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