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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: degree · face · date · kid · root · season · prune · kick

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. face — to point toward
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. face — to confront
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. kick — in football
  7. face — part of the head
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. root — of a plant
  11. kid — child
  12. date — the fruit
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. degree — from a university
  16. kid — to tease
  17. season — of the year
  18. root — of a word
  19. degree — temperature
  20. root — the cause
  21. season — in sport
  22. degree — an amount
  23. prune — to trim
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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