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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. cold — an illness
  4. degree — temperature
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. hand — in cards
  8. degree — from a university
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. squash — to crush
  11. degree — an amount
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bark — to shout
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. kick — in football
  18. mark — a trace
  19. plane — a tool
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. squash — the sport
  22. hand — help
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. kick — a thrill

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