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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: kick · bore · date · field · racket · trunk · degree · bowl

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. bore — to tire
  3. degree — an amount
  4. degree — from a university
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — for sport
  13. date — the fruit
  14. bore — to drill
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. degree — temperature
  20. kick — in football
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. bowl — to roll

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