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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: kid · stand · degree · fork · root · pound

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. kid — child
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. degree — an amount
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. root — of a plant
  7. root — the cause
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. stand — to bear
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. fork — in a road
  14. pound — a weight
  15. degree — temperature
  16. root — of a word
  17. kid — to tease
  18. pound — for dogs

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