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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. present — there
  3. rash — hasty
  4. track — a path
  5. present — a gift
  6. fork — in a road
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. land — a country
  9. kid — child
  10. rash — a series
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. degree — from a university
  14. land — ground
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. track — to keep track
  18. present — the time now
  19. kid — to tease
  20. degree — an amount
  21. land — to come down
  22. track — a song
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. degree — temperature

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