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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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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: track · trunk · firm · mate · kid · cold · date · degree

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. degree — temperature
  3. mate — a friend
  4. cold — not warm
  5. track — a path
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. kid — to tease
  8. cold — an illness
  9. date — the fruit
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. mate — a partner
  12. kid — child
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. degree — an amount
  15. firm — a company
  16. firm — steady
  17. degree — from a university
  18. firm — decided
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. track — to keep track
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. track — a song
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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