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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: bulb · fork · degree · perch · pound · date · race · pop

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. bulb — for light
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. bulb — for light
  7. pop — to visit
  8. pound — a weight
  9. perch — the fish
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. race — a contest
  12. date — the fruit
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. race — the arms race
  15. pop — soda
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. fork — in a road
  19. degree — an amount
  20. degree — from a university
  21. race — humankind
  22. degree — temperature
  23. pop — music
  24. fork — to eat with

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