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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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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: kick · fine · degree · arm · mate · pop · tear · face

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. fine — all right
  3. mate — a partner
  4. degree — from a university
  5. pop — music
  6. pop — soda
  7. face — to confront
  8. degree — temperature
  9. degree — an amount
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. face — to point toward
  14. tear — from crying
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. kick — in football
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip
  19. mate — a friend
  20. pop — to visit
  21. mate — to breed
  22. face — part of the head
  23. fine — high quality
  24. arm — part of the body

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