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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: pop · face · kid · current · cap · land · degree · trunk

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. cap — a lid
  3. face — part of the head
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. pop — to visit
  7. degree — temperature
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. current — happening now
  10. face — to point toward
  11. cap — a hat
  12. degree — from a university
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. land — to come down
  15. current — of water
  16. face — to confront
  17. land — a country
  18. current — electric
  19. land — ground
  20. degree — an amount
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. pop — music
  23. pop — soda
  24. cap — of ice

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