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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: bank · tube · rash · fork · fall · wound · kid · degree

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. bank — for money
  4. fall — the season
  5. bank — for money
  6. tube — the underground
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. kid — child
  9. rash — a series
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wound — an injury
  12. degree — from a university
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. degree — temperature
  15. rash — hasty
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. kid — to tease
  18. fall — to drop
  19. fall — to drop
  20. wound — an injury
  21. tube — a container
  22. degree — an amount
  23. fork — in a road
  24. bank — of a river

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