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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: board · rush · bark · pit · kick · degree · wind · tear

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. degree — an amount
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bark — to shout
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — from crying
  8. degree — temperature
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. rush — hurry
  11. pit — in a race
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. pit — a hole
  16. kick — in football
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. degree — from a university
  19. tear — to rip
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. board — a committee
  22. wind — moving air
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. board — to get on

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