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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 116 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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. bore — to tire
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. degree — temperature
  6. game — a match
  7. file — a tool
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. fork — in a road
  10. degree — an amount
  11. file — a document
  12. degree — from a university
  13. file — a line of people
  14. season — of the year
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. bore — to drill
  19. prune — to trim
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. game — wild animals
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. prune — to trim

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