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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: rock · cold · race · degree · pitcher · rest · current · fork

  1. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — a stone
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. degree — an amount
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. race — the arms race
  6. rest — a break
  7. fork — in a road
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. race — humankind
  10. rest — what's left
  11. current — happening now
  12. current — electric
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. cold — not warm
  15. current — of water
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. rest — what's left
  18. cold — an illness
  19. degree — temperature
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. race — a contest
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. degree — from a university
  24. rock — music

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