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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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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: fork · plane · bat · kid · hand · temple · present · degree

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. kid — child
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. plane — a tool
  9. bat — the animal
  10. degree — temperature
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. present — the time now
  14. present — a gift
  15. degree — from a university
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. present — there
  18. degree — an amount
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hand — help
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. fork — in a road
  24. temple — a place of worship

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