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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: hide · fork · degree · drill · wound · bank · chair · content

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  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. degree — from a university
  2. bank — for money
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. bank — for money
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. drill — a practice
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bank — of a river
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. wound — an injury
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. content — happy
  15. degree — an amount
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. content — the amount
  18. drill — the tool
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. chair — a leader
  21. drill — army training
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. degree — temperature
  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