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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: object · fall · lean · trunk · hand · degree · kick · pitch

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. lean — thin
  3. hand — help
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. object — an aim
  6. hand — in cards
  7. kick — in football
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. object — to protest
  12. degree — from a university
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. pitch — completely
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. object — a thing
  20. degree — an amount
  21. fall — to drop
  22. lean — to bend
  23. degree — temperature
  24. fall — the season

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