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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 124 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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. perch — the fish
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. hand — help
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. kick — in football
  9. fork — in a road
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. race — humankind
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. degree — from a university
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. race — a contest
  18. sharp — clever
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. degree — temperature
  21. degree — an amount
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. race — the arms race
  24. hand — in cards

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