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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. row — to paddle
  3. board — a committee
  4. spring — a coil
  5. bat — the animal
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. spring — the season
  8. track — a path
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. degree — an amount
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. net — for catching
  14. track — to keep track
  15. spring — of water
  16. degree — from a university
  17. row — a line
  18. track — a song
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. net — in sport
  21. fork — in a road
  22. degree — temperature
  23. board — to get on
  24. net — after costs

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