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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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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: hand · shower · board · pound · fork · degree · bat · straw

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. degree — temperature
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. board — a committee
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. board — to get on
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. bat — the animal
  15. degree — from a university
  16. fork — in a road
  17. degree — an amount
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. hand — in cards
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. hand — help
  22. pound — a weight
  23. shower — to wash
  24. shower — rain

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