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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: field · fork · degree · mark · board · wind · fan · kid

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. field — a subject
  4. fork — in a road
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. kid — child
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. degree — an amount
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. mark — a grade
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. field — for sport
  13. board — a committee
  14. mark — a trace
  15. degree — temperature
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. wind — moving air
  18. field — farmland
  19. board — to get on
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. degree — from a university
  22. wind — moving air
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. board — a flat piece

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