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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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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: present · degree · deal · swing · fork · court · root · mark

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. deal — to handle
  3. present — a gift
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. court — of a king
  6. court — for sport
  7. root — of a word
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. mark — a grade
  11. fork — in a road
  12. present — there
  13. swing — in golf
  14. root — of a plant
  15. swing — music
  16. swing — to play on
  17. degree — from a university
  18. root — the cause
  19. degree — temperature
  20. court — of law
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. mark — a trace
  23. present — the time now
  24. degree — an amount

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