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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: net · court · row · hand · key · fork · cabinet · degree

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. degree — temperature
  3. court — of law
  4. key — for a lock
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. fork — in a road
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. court — for sport
  11. court — of a king
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. key — the most important part
  15. degree — from a university
  16. key — in music
  17. hand — in cards
  18. degree — an amount
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. net — for catching
  21. row — to paddle
  22. net — after costs
  23. net — in sport
  24. row — a line

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