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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: clip · bowl · rest · degree · fork · fine

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. 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 — an amount
  2. clip — for paper
  3. fork — in a road
  4. fine — all right
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. clip — to cut
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. rest — a break
  10. degree — from a university
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. rest — what's left
  14. clip — a video
  15. degree — temperature
  16. fine — high quality
  17. rest — what's left
  18. 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