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

Word bank: fork · tear · degree · court · wound · cap

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. wound — an injury
  3. cap — a hat
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. court — for sport
  7. court — of law
  8. degree — an amount
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. degree — from a university
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. cap — a lid
  13. fork — in a road
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cap — of ice
  16. degree — temperature
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. court — of a king

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