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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: racket · fork · mine · land · degree · board · mate · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. land — to come down
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. degree — an amount
  6. mate — a partner
  7. land — ground
  8. mate — a friend
  9. degree — temperature
  10. last — to go on
  11. last — finally
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. board — a committee
  14. degree — from a university
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. mine — for digging
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. land — a country
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. fork — in a road
  22. mate — to breed
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. board — to get on

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