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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. degree — from a university
  3. ball — a dance
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. key — the most important part
  7. press — newspapers
  8. row — a line
  9. degree — an amount
  10. key — for a lock
  11. bark — to shout
  12. key — in music
  13. press — a publisher
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. degree — temperature
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. press — to push
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. kick — in football
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. ball — a great time
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. row — to paddle

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