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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 · kid · march · sharp · last · lash · trunk · game

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. degree — an amount
  3. march — the month
  4. last — final
  5. degree — from a university
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. kid — to tease
  8. last — to go on
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. sharp — clever
  11. march — music
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. kid — child
  14. last — finally
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. march — the month
  17. game — wild animals
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. game — a match
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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