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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 120 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: fork · wound · cold · cap · rest · land · degree · plane

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. rest — what's left
  5. land — a country
  6. land — to come down
  7. rest — a break
  8. cap — a lid
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — not warm
  11. fork — in a road
  12. degree — from a university
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — temperature
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. cap — of ice
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. plane — a tool
  19. cold — an illness
  20. land — ground
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cap — a hat

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