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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: chest · charge · cold · can · safe · game · degree · kick

  1. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. can — to be able to
  3. degree — an amount
  4. charge — in control
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. degree — temperature
  7. game — a match
  8. can — a tin
  9. kick — in football
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. degree — from a university
  13. charge — a price
  14. chest — of your body
  15. charge — electricity
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. chest — of your body
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. cold — not warm
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. game — wild animals
  22. cold — an illness
  23. safe — a strongbox
  24. chest — a box

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