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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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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: wind · chip · prune · lash · date · track · kick · degree

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. chip — to eat
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. degree — temperature
  5. wind — moving air
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. date — the fruit
  8. degree — an amount
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. degree — from a university
  12. prune — to trim
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. kick — in football
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. track — to keep track
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. track — a song
  22. wind — moving air
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. chip — for betting

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