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

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. degree — an amount
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. pitch — completely
  6. spring — a coil
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. wound — an injury
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. spring — of water
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. degree — from a university
  14. wound — an injury
  15. degree — temperature
  16. craft — a skill
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. spring — the season

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