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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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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: wake · pit · march · shower · degree · fork · drill · stem

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. drill — the tool
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. pit — in a race
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. stem — to come from
  10. march — the month
  11. degree — from a university
  12. drill — army training
  13. shower — rain
  14. pit — a hole
  15. degree — an amount
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. march — music
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. degree — temperature
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. fork — in a road
  22. march — the month
  23. drill — a practice
  24. wake — a trail

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