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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: content · game · degree · sharp · fork · trunk · board · cell

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. degree — from a university
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. game — a match
  5. board — to get on
  6. board — a committee
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. sharp — clever
  9. content — the amount
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. content — happy
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. cell — in biology
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. cell — a phone
  19. fork — in a road
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — an amount
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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