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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 120 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: bore · kid · fan · kick · degree · hide · cell · season

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. cell — a phone
  3. bore — to tire
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cell — in biology
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. season — in sport
  8. bore — to drill
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — child
  15. degree — from a university
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. season — of the year
  18. degree — temperature
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. kick — in football
  23. degree — an amount
  24. kick — with a leg

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