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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 · snap · tear · stand · degree · band

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. fork — in a road
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. tear — from crying
  12. degree — temperature
  13. band — a ring
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. stand — to bear
  17. band — a music group
  18. stand — for spectators

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