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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. degree — an amount
  4. kick — in football
  5. hand — in cards
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. ball — a dance
  8. hand — help
  9. chip — for betting
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. chip — to eat
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. chest — of your body
  17. degree — from a university
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. chair — a leader
  21. branch — a division
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. ball — a great time
  24. degree — temperature

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