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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 116 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: game · last · degree · wake · ground · mark · object · fork

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. ground — a position
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. wake — a trail
  5. mark — a grade
  6. object — to protest
  7. object — a thing
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. game — a match
  11. last — finally
  12. last — to go on
  13. fork — in a road
  14. game — wild animals
  15. mark — a trace
  16. degree — temperature
  17. ground — the earth
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. degree — from a university
  20. last — final
  21. degree — an amount
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. object — an aim
  24. game — a kind of play

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