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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. degree — an amount
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. bank — for money
  7. game — wild animals
  8. bank — for money
  9. fork — in a road
  10. drill — the tool
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. degree — temperature
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. sharp — clever
  15. game — a match
  16. land — to come down
  17. degree — from a university
  18. drill — army training
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. drill — a practice
  21. land — a country
  22. bank — of a river
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. game — a kind of play

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