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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 · kid · tear · sharp · bat · mug · degree · trunk

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. mug — a face
  3. sharp — clever
  4. kid — child
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. tear — from crying
  7. mug — a cup
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. bat — the animal
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. mug — to rob
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. degree — an amount
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. degree — temperature
  19. kid — to tease
  20. tear — to rip
  21. degree — from a university
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. tear — from crying
  24. sharp — with an edge

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