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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 120 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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Word bank
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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 · calf · staff · degree · dip · race

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. dip — to sink
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. degree — from a university
  6. race — a contest
  7. race — the arms race
  8. race — humankind
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. staff — a stick
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. staff — employees
  13. fork — in a road
  14. degree — temperature
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. staff — employees

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