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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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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 · drill · shower · content · club · pit · patient · fork

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — from a university
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. fork — in a road
  6. content — the amount
  7. drill — the tool
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. degree — temperature
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. drill — a practice
  14. drill — army training
  15. shower — to wash
  16. pit — in a race
  17. content — happy
  18. club — a group
  19. shower — rain
  20. club — for dancing
  21. club — for golf
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. pit — a hole

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