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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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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 · squash · clip · bay · degree · race

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. clip — a video
  5. race — the arms race
  6. fork — in a road
  7. degree — from a university
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. squash — to crush
  10. race — a contest
  11. degree — temperature
  12. race — humankind
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. degree — an amount
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. squash — the sport
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bay — a part of the sea

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