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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 120 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: degree · kick · racket · chip · pitch · lash · tear · cold

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. tear — from crying
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. chip — for betting
  9. pitch — completely
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. kick — in football
  12. degree — from a university
  13. tear — to rip
  14. chip — to eat
  15. cold — an illness
  16. degree — temperature
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. cold — not warm
  23. degree — an amount
  24. chip — in a computer

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