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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. rock — music
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. fork — in a road
  7. hand — in cards
  8. degree — temperature
  9. wind — moving air
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. hand — help
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. rock — a stone
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. row — a line
  19. degree — from a university
  20. row — to paddle
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. wind — moving air
  24. deal — to handle

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