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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. fork — in a road
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. degree — temperature
  9. wound — an injury
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — in cards
  16. game — wild animals
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. branch — a division
  19. wound — an injury
  20. game — a match
  21. bat — the animal
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — an amount
  24. game — a kind of play

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