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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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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 · degree · pound · fork · kid · clip · dip · face

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. dip — to sink
  5. face — part of the head
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — a video
  8. kid — child
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — an amount
  11. kid — to tease
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. face — to confront
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. face — to point toward
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. fork — in a road
  20. pound — a weight
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. degree — from a university
  23. clip — for paper
  24. rush — hurry

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