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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. degree — temperature
  3. face — to confront
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. dip — to sink
  7. field — for sport
  8. degree — from a university
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. field — farmland
  11. field — a subject
  12. game — a match
  13. face — to point toward
  14. rush — hurry
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. kick — in football
  19. face — part of the head
  20. foot — a measure
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. degree — an amount
  23. game — wild animals
  24. dip — a sauce

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