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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 · pass · kid · net · track · saw · mine · degree

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. degree — temperature
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. fork — in a road
  6. net — in sport
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. track — a song
  9. degree — an amount
  10. track — a path
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. degree — from a university
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. net — for catching
  17. net — after costs
  18. kid — child
  19. pass — a permit
  20. saw — the tool
  21. track — to keep track
  22. kid — to tease
  23. saw — the tool
  24. mine — for digging

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