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

Word bank: chair · safe · bat · degree · fork · rule

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. bat — the animal
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. fork — in a road
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. degree — temperature
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. degree — from a university
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. rule — government
  13. chair — a leader
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. degree — an amount
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. rule — a law

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