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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 · degree · roll · stick · race · pound

  1. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. roll — a list
  5. degree — from a university
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. degree — an amount
  8. roll — a cake
  9. degree — temperature
  10. race — humankind
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. race — a contest
  13. race — the arms race
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. fork — in a road
  17. pound — a weight
  18. pound — to hit hard

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