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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: degree · board · cold · rest · kick · content

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. board — to get on
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. degree — an amount
  6. content — the amount
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — not warm
  9. degree — temperature
  10. board — a committee
  11. rest — what's left
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. rest — a break
  15. kick — in football
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. content — happy
  18. degree — from a university

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