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

Word bank: degree · racket · trunk · cap · stick · kick

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. degree — an amount
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. degree — temperature
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. kick — in football
  9. cap — a lid
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. cap — of ice
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. degree — from a university
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. trunk — of a tree

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