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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: drill · plane · wound · degree · net · fork · season · sharp

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. plane — a tool
  3. net — for catching
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. degree — an amount
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. drill — army training
  8. degree — temperature
  9. season — of the year
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — an injury
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. drill — the tool
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. sharp — clever
  16. season — in sport
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. degree — from a university
  19. drill — a practice
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. fork — in a road
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. net — in sport

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