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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: chest · land · degree · root · field · tear · present · kick

  1. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. degree — an amount
  4. land — to come down
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — to rip
  7. land — a country
  8. tear — from crying
  9. field — for sport
  10. kick — in football
  11. present — the time now
  12. field — a subject
  13. degree — temperature
  14. chest — a box
  15. chest — of your body
  16. present — a gift
  17. root — of a plant
  18. present — there
  19. field — farmland
  20. chest — of your body
  21. root — of a word
  22. land — ground
  23. degree — from a university
  24. kick — a thrill

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