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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: wind · bark · degree · kick · bulb · file · foot · trunk

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. degree — temperature
  6. foot — a measure
  7. degree — from a university
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. bark — to shout
  10. kick — in football
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. bulb — for light
  14. file — a line of people
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. wind — moving air
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a tool
  22. degree — an amount
  23. bulb — for light
  24. foot — the bottom

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