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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: rock · plane · season · degree · hand · kick · mark · file

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. rock — music
  4. degree — temperature
  5. degree — an amount
  6. season — in sport
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. mark — a trace
  9. file — a tool
  10. hand — in cards
  11. rock — a stone
  12. season — of the year
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. hand — help
  15. kick — in football
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. file — a document
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. mark — a grade
  20. plane — a tool
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. degree — from a university
  24. file — a line of people

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