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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. pound — a weight
  3. net — after costs
  4. staff — employees
  5. scale — in music
  6. squash — the sport
  7. degree — temperature
  8. squash — to crush
  9. net — for catching
  10. branch — a division
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. degree — an amount
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. staff — a stick
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. staff — employees
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. fork — in a road
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. net — in sport
  21. scale — size or range
  22. degree — from a university
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. pound — to hit hard

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