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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: patient · mate · degree · temple · cap · chest · clip · kick

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. degree — an amount
  5. mate — to breed
  6. clip — for paper
  7. degree — temperature
  8. chest — a box
  9. mate — a partner
  10. clip — to cut
  11. mate — a friend
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cap — of ice
  15. cap — a lid
  16. cap — a hat
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. degree — from a university
  21. clip — a video
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. chest — of your body
  24. temple — a place of worship

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