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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: current · present · fork · content · file · stem · degree · rush

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. fork — in a road
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. current — electric
  5. degree — from a university
  6. content — the amount
  7. present — the time now
  8. file — a document
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. current — happening now
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. content — happy
  14. degree — temperature
  15. rush — hurry
  16. present — there
  17. present — a gift
  18. stem — to come from
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. file — a tool
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. current — of water
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. file — a line of people

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