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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. can — a tin
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. cell — a phone
  5. can — to be able to
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. degree — temperature
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. pit — a hole
  10. sharp — clever
  11. degree — an amount
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. degree — from a university
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. cell — in biology
  20. kick — in football
  21. can — a tin
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. pit — in a race
  24. wake — a trail

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