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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: snap · content · degree · land · pit · kick · trunk · season

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. content — the amount
  6. content — happy
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. kick — in football
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. pit — a hole
  12. degree — an amount
  13. snap — to click
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. degree — from a university
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. land — ground
  18. pit — in a race
  19. season — in sport
  20. land — to come down
  21. season — of the year
  22. land — a country
  23. degree — temperature
  24. trunk — of a tree

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