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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 116 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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. hand — in cards
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. lie — to recline
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. fall — to drop
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. hand — help
  10. degree — an amount
  11. branch — a division
  12. fall — to drop
  13. prune — to trim
  14. degree — temperature
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. stock — shares
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. prune — to trim
  21. kick — in football
  22. fall — the season
  23. degree — from a university
  24. stock — goods

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