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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: straw · nail · fork · deal · degree · race · pitch · court

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. race — the arms race
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. deal — to handle
  5. court — of law
  6. degree — from a university
  7. degree — an amount
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. fork — in a road
  10. court — of a king
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. race — a contest
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. degree — temperature
  16. race — humankind
  17. pitch — completely
  18. court — for sport
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. nail — for a hammer

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