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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: degree · deal · arm · fork · trunk · squash · kid · can

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. can — to be able to
  4. deal — to handle
  5. kid — to tease
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. degree — from a university
  11. squash — the sport
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. kid — child
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. degree — an amount
  17. squash — to crush
  18. can — a tin
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. degree — temperature
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. can — a tin
  24. fork — in a road

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