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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: kid · degree · hand · chair · fork · bank · roll · pop

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. fork — in a road
  3. kid — to tease
  4. roll — a list
  5. degree — temperature
  6. pop — music
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. pop — soda
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. bank — for money
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. kid — child
  14. degree — from a university
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. chair — a leader
  17. bank — for money
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. degree — an amount
  21. pop — to visit
  22. hand — in cards
  23. hand — help
  24. bank — of a river

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