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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 120 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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. prune — to trim
  3. mate — a friend
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. pound — a weight
  8. mate — to breed
  9. prune — to trim
  10. degree — from a university
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. mate — a partner
  13. kick — in football
  14. lie — to recline
  15. degree — temperature
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. bark — to shout
  21. degree — an amount
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. pound — to hit hard

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