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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 120 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: chip · cold · degree · row · calf · fork · lie · leaves

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. degree — temperature
  7. cold — not warm
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. row — to paddle
  10. cold — an illness
  11. fork — in a road
  12. lie — to recline
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. chip — for betting
  19. chip — to eat
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. row — a line
  24. fork — a garden tool

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