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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 120 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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. degree — an amount
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. bank — for money
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. wake — a trail
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. pound — a weight
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. fork — in a road
  15. bank — of a river
  16. degree — from a university
  17. mine — for digging
  18. scale — size or range
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. bank — for money
  21. scale — in music
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. chair — a leader
  24. fork — a garden tool

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