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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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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 · squash · fork · ball · hand · cell · bound · shower

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. hand — in cards
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. bound — certain
  7. ball — a great time
  8. shower — rain
  9. squash — the sport
  10. fork — in a road
  11. degree — from a university
  12. squash — to crush
  13. degree — temperature
  14. ball — a dance
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. hand — help
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. shower — to wash
  21. bound — obliged
  22. cell — in biology
  23. degree — an amount
  24. cell — a phone

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