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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: wake · fork · cell · leaves · bowl · degree · kid · stock

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. kid — to tease
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. cell — a phone
  9. cell — in biology
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. degree — temperature
  18. degree — an amount
  19. stock — goods
  20. wake — a trail
  21. fork — in a road
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. stock — shares
  24. degree — from a university

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