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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. bank — for money
  3. hand — in cards
  4. degree — temperature
  5. pop — music
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. pop — to visit
  8. kick — in football
  9. degree — from a university
  10. wake — a trail
  11. bank — of a river
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. mine — for digging
  16. plane — a tool
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. bank — for money
  20. pop — soda
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. degree — an amount
  23. hand — help
  24. kick — with a leg

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