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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 120 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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. band — a music group
  5. fork — in a road
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. degree — an amount
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. suit — in cards
  11. degree — from a university
  12. prune — to trim
  13. chip — to eat
  14. cold — an illness
  15. degree — temperature
  16. drill — a practice
  17. cold — not warm
  18. drill — army training
  19. band — a ring
  20. drill — the tool
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. suit — clothes
  23. chip — for betting
  24. suit — to fit

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