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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: hand · degree · stand · face · cell · mug · bark · kick

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. degree — from a university
  3. mug — to rob
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. face — to point toward
  6. degree — temperature
  7. kick — in football
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. mug — a cup
  10. hand — help
  11. hand — in cards
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. face — part of the head
  14. mug — a face
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. degree — an amount
  17. cell — a phone
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. stand — to bear
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. face — to confront
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. bark — to shout

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