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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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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: fork · rash · roll · court · craft · saw · race · degree

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. court — of a king
  3. race — humankind
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. rash — a series
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. craft — boats
  9. roll — a list
  10. roll — a cake
  11. court — for sport
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. race — a contest
  14. degree — from a university
  15. degree — an amount
  16. fork — in a road
  17. degree — temperature
  18. saw — the tool
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. court — of law
  21. race — the arms race
  22. saw — the tool
  23. rash — hasty
  24. craft — a skill

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