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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. club — for golf
  3. club — a group
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. degree — from a university
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. pass — a permit
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. wind — moving air
  14. root — of a word
  15. game — wild animals
  16. fork — in a road
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. degree — temperature
  19. club — for dancing
  20. degree — an amount
  21. root — the cause
  22. game — a match
  23. wind — moving air
  24. root — of a plant

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