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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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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: jam · degree · cell · fork · mug · bat · face · bark

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. mug — to rob
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. mug — a cup
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. fork — in a road
  9. cell — a phone
  10. mug — a face
  11. face — to confront
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. degree — from a university
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. bark — to shout
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. face — part of the head
  21. face — to point toward
  22. degree — temperature
  23. bat — the animal
  24. cell — in biology

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