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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  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. bowl — a football final
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. degree — an amount
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. net — after costs
  8. kid — to tease
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. kick — in football
  11. degree — from a university
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. degree — temperature
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. net — for catching
  20. kid — child
  21. net — in sport
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. wake — before a funeral
  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