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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: scale · deal · land · clip · degree · fork · sharp · bark

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. sharp — clever
  3. bark — to shout
  4. land — ground
  5. degree — an amount
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. deal — to handle
  8. land — to come down
  9. degree — from a university
  10. fork — in a road
  11. clip — for paper
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. land — a country
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. clip — to cut
  19. scale — in music
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. clip — a video
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. scale — size or range

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