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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. craft — boats
  3. cell — in biology
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. degree — an amount
  7. row — a line
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. row — to paddle
  10. chair — a leader
  11. degree — temperature
  12. degree — from a university
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. cell — a phone
  16. craft — a skill
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. kick — with a leg

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