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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. court — of law
  5. degree — temperature
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. court — for sport
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. degree — an amount
  10. court — of a king
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cell — a phone
  17. kick — in football
  18. degree — from a university
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. mine — for digging
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. trunk — of a tree

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