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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 116 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: degree · sharp · bowl · hand · mine · game · fork · club

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. hand — help
  6. game — a match
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. mine — for digging
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. club — a group
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. game — wild animals
  13. degree — temperature
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. fork — in a road
  17. club — for golf
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. sharp — clever
  22. hand — in cards
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. club — for dancing

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