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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 116 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 · degree · wound · prune · key · last · squash · lie

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. lie — to recline
  3. prune — to trim
  4. degree — an amount
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. key — the most important part
  7. key — for a lock
  8. squash — to crush
  9. last — final
  10. kick — in football
  11. prune — to trim
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. last — to go on
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. key — in music
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. degree — temperature
  18. last — finally
  19. wound — an injury
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. squash — the sport
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. wound — an injury
  24. lie — an untruth

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