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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: rush · march · degree · tube · mate · current · pound · fork

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. degree — from a university
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. rush — hurry
  5. mate — a partner
  6. fork — in a road
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. march — the month
  9. mate — to breed
  10. current — electric
  11. tube — the underground
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. pound — a weight
  16. march — music
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. current — of water
  20. mate — a friend
  21. degree — an amount
  22. march — the month
  23. degree — temperature
  24. tube — a container

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