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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: wound · pop · hand · kick · ball · file · hide · degree

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. wound — an injury
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. file — a line of people
  6. wound — an injury
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — an amount
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. hand — in cards
  12. pop — music
  13. file — a tool
  14. kick — in football
  15. pop — to visit
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. file — a document
  19. pop — soda
  20. hand — help
  21. ball — a dance
  22. ball — a great time
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. degree — temperature

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