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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: snap · face · cue · degree · kid · craft · mine · leaves

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. kid — to tease
  4. cue — for pool
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. face — part of the head
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. craft — boats
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. degree — temperature
  11. face — to confront
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. cue — a hint
  14. snap — to click
  15. face — to point toward
  16. degree — from a university
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. cue — a signal
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. craft — a skill
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. degree — an amount
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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