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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 · land · pitch · temple · pop · degree · mine · cue

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. land — ground
  4. degree — from a university
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. mine — for digging
  8. pop — soda
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. degree — temperature
  11. cue — a hint
  12. pop — music
  13. kick — in football
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. cue — a signal
  17. land — to come down
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. degree — an amount
  20. cue — for pool
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. pop — to visit
  23. land — a country
  24. pitch — completely

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