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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: kick · roll · kid · straw · squash · degree · rule · chest

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. 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. roll — a cake
  2. roll — a list
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — child
  7. kick — in football
  8. squash — the sport
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. degree — an amount
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. rule — a law
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. squash — to crush
  15. degree — temperature
  16. chest — a box
  17. chest — of your body
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. rule — government
  21. chest — of your body
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. 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