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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 116 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. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — in a road
  2. degree — an amount
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. cap — a hat
  5. degree — from a university
  6. spring — a coil
  7. field — for sport
  8. content — the amount
  9. spring — the season
  10. field — a subject
  11. rest — what's left
  12. field — farmland
  13. cap — of ice
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. spring — of water
  17. rest — what's left
  18. cap — a lid
  19. content — happy
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. rest — a break
  22. degree — temperature
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. fork — a garden tool

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