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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wind — moving air
  5. ball — a dance
  6. face — to point toward
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. race — humankind
  9. ball — a great time
  10. net — in sport
  11. wind — moving air
  12. face — to confront
  13. net — after costs
  14. race — the arms race
  15. face — part of the head
  16. fork — in a road
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. degree — an amount
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. degree — temperature
  22. net — for catching
  23. race — a contest
  24. degree — from a university

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