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

Word bank: tear · degree · kick · chest · lash · track

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. tear — to rip
  4. kick — in football
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. chest — of your body
  7. tear — from crying
  8. degree — from a university
  9. chest — a box
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. degree — temperature
  12. track — a path
  13. track — a song
  14. tear — from crying
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. chest — of your body
  18. degree — an amount

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