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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: fan · fork · swing · spell · chest · degree · sharp · fall

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. spell — magic
  3. fall — the season
  4. degree — an amount
  5. degree — from a university
  6. swing — in golf
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. spell — letters
  9. fall — to drop
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. spell — a short time
  12. chest — of your body
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. fall — to drop
  15. chest — of your body
  16. fork — in a road
  17. swing — to play on
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. degree — temperature
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. sharp — clever
  23. swing — music
  24. chest — a box

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