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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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Word bank
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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: stem · sharp · degree · rule · wake · wound · file · fork

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. wound — an injury
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. file — a document
  5. degree — an amount
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. wound — an injury
  8. rule — a law
  9. degree — temperature
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. file — a tool
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. degree — from a university
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. file — a line of people
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. rule — government
  21. fork — in a road
  22. stem — to come from
  23. wake — a trail
  24. sharp — clever

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