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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: pit · hand · net · kick · race · wind · swing · degree

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. degree — temperature
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. wind — moving air
  5. race — a contest
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. swing — in golf
  8. net — after costs
  9. kick — in football
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — help
  12. degree — an amount
  13. swing — to play on
  14. net — for catching
  15. wind — moving air
  16. race — the arms race
  17. pit — in a race
  18. hand — in cards
  19. degree — from a university
  20. race — humankind
  21. pit — a hole
  22. net — in sport
  23. swing — music
  24. wind — to turn a key

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