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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: swing · degree · fork · last · kick · kid

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. last — final
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. last — finally
  5. swing — music
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — an amount
  8. swing — to play on
  9. degree — from a university
  10. kid — to tease
  11. swing — in golf
  12. fork — in a road
  13. kick — in football
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. last — to go on
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. kid — child

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