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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 120 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: rash · deal · mine · kid · kick · degree · cell · fork

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. kid — to tease
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. degree — an amount
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. kid — child
  9. cell — in biology
  10. cell — a phone
  11. fork — in a road
  12. deal — to handle
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. rash — a series
  15. degree — temperature
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. rash — hasty
  19. kick — in football
  20. mine — for digging
  21. degree — from a university
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. fork — to eat with

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