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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: field · kick · prune · face · chest · cue · track · degree

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. chest — of your body
  3. face — to confront
  4. field — a subject
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. field — farmland
  7. kick — in football
  8. prune — to trim
  9. track — a song
  10. face — part of the head
  11. track — a path
  12. degree — temperature
  13. prune — to trim
  14. chest — a box
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. chest — of your body
  17. field — for sport
  18. track — to keep track
  19. cue — for pool
  20. degree — from a university
  21. face — to point toward
  22. cue — a signal
  23. cue — a hint
  24. prune — the fruit

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