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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: deal · degree · kid · clip · bowl · patient · mark · fork

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. mark — a trace
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. deal — to handle
  8. kid — to tease
  9. clip — to cut
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — an amount
  12. kid — child
  13. clip — a video
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. fork — in a road
  18. degree — temperature
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. mark — a grade
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. deal — an agreement

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