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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — from a university
  3. fork — in a road
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. current — electric
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. pound — a weight
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. degree — temperature
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. current — happening now
  16. current — of water
  17. cell — a phone
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. cell — in biology
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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