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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · bark · drill · branch · kick · tear · track · field

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. branch — a division
  3. track — a song
  4. track — to keep track
  5. degree — temperature
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. degree — an amount
  8. track — a path
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. field — for sport
  11. tear — to rip
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. tear — from crying
  16. drill — army training
  17. field — farmland
  18. kick — in football
  19. field — a subject
  20. tear — from crying
  21. drill — a practice
  22. bark — to shout
  23. degree — from a university
  24. drill — the tool

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