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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. degree — an amount
  3. game — wild animals
  4. fork — in a road
  5. capital — money
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. degree — temperature
  8. game — a match
  9. degree — from a university
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. roll — a cake
  12. capital — a city
  13. pit — in a race
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. plane — a tool
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. rock — music
  19. pit — a hole
  20. rock — a stone
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. roll — a list
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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