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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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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: pound · craft · degree · sharp · court · fork · mate · wax

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. mate — a partner
  3. fork — in a road
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. craft — a skill
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. court — for sport
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. sharp — clever
  11. court — of a king
  12. mate — to breed
  13. degree — an amount
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. court — of law
  16. wax — to grow
  17. degree — temperature
  18. mate — a friend
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. craft — boats
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. degree — from a university
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. pound — to hit hard

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