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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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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 · staff · face · deal · arm · trunk · kid · pound

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — child
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. face — to confront
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. staff — employees
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. face — to point toward
  15. deal — to handle
  16. pound — a weight
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. degree — temperature
  19. staff — a stick
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. staff — employees
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. face — part of the head

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