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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: wind · fork · degree · kick · sharp · bank · rock · rule

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. wind — moving air
  3. degree — an amount
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. sharp — clever
  6. degree — from a university
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. degree — temperature
  10. wind — moving air
  11. fork — in a road
  12. rule — a law
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. bank — for money
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. rock — music
  18. rock — a stone
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. rule — government
  22. bank — of a river
  23. bank — for money
  24. wind — to turn a key

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