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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. band — a music group
  4. ground — crushed
  5. suit — clothes
  6. suit — to fit
  7. degree — an amount
  8. ground — a position
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. degree — temperature
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. wake — a trail
  13. degree — from a university
  14. tube — the underground
  15. suit — in cards
  16. tube — a container
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. swing — to play on
  19. swing — in golf
  20. fork — in a road
  21. band — a ring
  22. ground — the earth
  23. swing — music
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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