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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: degree · pound · fork · net · date · bat · clip · stick

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. net — for catching
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. degree — an amount
  5. clip — a video
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. net — in sport
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. clip — to cut
  12. degree — temperature
  13. pound — a weight
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. date — the fruit
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. fork — in a road
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. clip — for paper
  22. degree — from a university
  23. bat — the animal
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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