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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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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: fine · rush · mark · chest · kick · tear · degree · clip

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. chest — of your body
  3. clip — to cut
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. mark — a trace
  7. degree — an amount
  8. fine — high quality
  9. fine — all right
  10. mark — a grade
  11. degree — temperature
  12. tear — from crying
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. rush — hurry
  15. degree — from a university
  16. clip — a video
  17. kick — in football
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. chest — of your body
  21. tear — from crying
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. tear — to rip
  24. clip — for paper

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