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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: fork · lean · band · degree · cue · mine · bowl · ground

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. lean — thin
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. band — a ring
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. ground — a position
  8. degree — an amount
  9. ground — crushed
  10. cue — a hint
  11. cue — a signal
  12. fork — in a road
  13. lean — to bend
  14. cue — for pool
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. ground — the earth
  18. mine — for digging
  19. degree — temperature
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. degree — from a university
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. band — a music group
  24. bowl — to roll

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