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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: arm · kid · fork · bass · stock · sharp · ground · degree

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. kid — to tease
  3. sharp — clever
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. fork — in a road
  9. bass — low music
  10. degree — temperature
  11. ground — the earth
  12. ground — crushed
  13. stock — goods
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. kid — child
  18. degree — from a university
  19. bass — the fish
  20. degree — an amount
  21. ground — a position
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. stock — shares
  24. sharp — with an edge

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