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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. chair — a leader
  3. roll — a cake
  4. mine — for digging
  5. kick — in football
  6. roll — a list
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. degree — from a university
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. degree — temperature
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. scale — size or range
  19. kid — child
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. degree — an amount
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — for weighing

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