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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: degree · capital · fork · wound · lash · net · pitcher · saw

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  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. saw — past of 'see'
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. capital — money
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. degree — from a university
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. wound — an injury
  8. net — for catching
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. saw — the tool
  11. wound — an injury
  12. saw — the tool
  13. degree — temperature
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. degree — an amount
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. capital — a city
  20. net — after costs
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. fork — in a road
  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