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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. chip — to eat
  6. degree — from a university
  7. game — wild animals
  8. degree — temperature
  9. fork — in a road
  10. rush — hurry
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. chip — for betting
  16. last — final
  17. last — to go on
  18. hand — in cards
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. last — finally
  21. pound — a weight
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. hand — help
  24. game — a match

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