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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: degree · shower · fork · drill · kick · chip · coach · content

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. content — happy
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. degree — temperature
  6. shower — rain
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. content — the amount
  9. drill — army training
  10. shower — to wash
  11. chip — for betting
  12. degree — from a university
  13. fork — in a road
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. drill — the tool
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. drill — a practice
  19. degree — an amount
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. kick — in football
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. chip — to eat

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