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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. rock — music
  3. shower — to wash
  4. rock — a stone
  5. fork — in a road
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. band — a ring
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. band — a music group
  10. pitch — completely
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. degree — from a university
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. court — of a king
  20. court — for sport
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. degree — temperature
  23. shower — rain
  24. court — of law

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