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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: swing · degree · fork · last · kick · kid · bark · can

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. fork — in a road
  3. last — final
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. kid — to tease
  8. last — finally
  9. degree — an amount
  10. swing — music
  11. can — a tin
  12. bark — to shout
  13. can — to be able to
  14. swing — to play on
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — from a university
  17. swing — in golf
  18. last — to go on
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. kid — child
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. kick — in football
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. can — a tin

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