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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. ground — a position
  4. court — of law
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. kick — in football
  8. degree — temperature
  9. degree — from a university
  10. prune — to trim
  11. snap — to click
  12. board — to get on
  13. board — a committee
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. ground — the earth
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. prune — to trim
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. court — for sport
  22. court — of a king
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. ground — crushed

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