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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: fork · chest · root · stick · degree · lash · bass · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. degree — temperature
  4. last — finally
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — of your body
  8. root — the cause
  9. root — of a word
  10. bass — low music
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. last — to go on
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. root — of a plant
  16. bass — the fish
  17. chest — a box
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. fork — in a road
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — an amount
  24. lash — to lash out

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