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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. press — a publisher
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. press — to push
  5. capital — a city
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. band — a music group
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. press — newspapers
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. band — a ring
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. field — for sport
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. field — farmland
  19. fork — in a road
  20. field — a subject
  21. capital — money
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — an amount
  24. degree — from a university

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