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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: fork · mine · degree · kid · date · calf · safe · track

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Is it ________________ for us to be here?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. kid — to tease
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. kid — child
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. degree — from a university
  13. track — a song
  14. fork — in a road
  15. track — to keep track
  16. date — the fruit
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. track — a path
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. degree — temperature
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. degree — an amount
  24. safe — out of danger

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