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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 116 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: mate · clip · sharp · fork · degree · lash · bowl · race

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. degree — temperature
  5. mate — to breed
  6. sharp — clever
  7. race — humankind
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — an amount
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. race — a contest
  14. clip — a video
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. clip — to cut
  20. mate — a friend
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. fork — in a road
  23. race — the arms race
  24. clip — for paper

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