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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. rush — hurry
  3. file — a line of people
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. saw — the tool
  7. degree — from a university
  8. file — a document
  9. wind — moving air
  10. degree — temperature
  11. degree — an amount
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. wind — moving air
  18. file — a tool
  19. saw — the tool
  20. kid — child
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. fork — in a road
  24. kid — to tease

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