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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: pop · squash · fork · stand · cap · tear · snap · degree

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. degree — an amount
  3. cap — a hat
  4. squash — the sport
  5. snap — to click
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. pop — soda
  10. pop — music
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. stand — to bear
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. pop — to visit
  15. tear — to rip
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. cap — a lid
  18. tear — from crying
  19. squash — to crush
  20. degree — temperature
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. degree — from a university
  23. cap — of ice
  24. fork — in a road

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