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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 · race · deal · kick · shower · fork · wave · degree

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. deal — to handle
  4. race — the arms race
  5. degree — temperature
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. degree — from a university
  9. swing — in golf
  10. swing — to play on
  11. shower — to wash
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. shower — rain
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. swing — music
  16. degree — an amount
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. race — humankind
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. kick — in football
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. fork — in a road

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