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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. degree — an amount
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. land — ground
  5. wound — an injury
  6. face — to confront
  7. face — part of the head
  8. degree — temperature
  9. hand — help
  10. wound — an injury
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. date — the fruit
  13. degree — from a university
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. face — to point toward
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. kick — in football
  20. land — a country
  21. hand — in cards
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. land — to come down
  24. racket — for tennis

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