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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. game — a match
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. hand — in cards
  5. game — wild animals
  6. rash — hasty
  7. rash — a series
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. wake — a trail
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. rush — hurry
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. root — the cause
  15. root — of a plant
  16. degree — an amount
  17. hand — help
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. degree — temperature
  20. root — of a word
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. fork — in a road

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