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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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. degree — from a university
  4. chip — to eat
  5. spring — a coil
  6. chip — for betting
  7. date — the fruit
  8. degree — an amount
  9. craft — a skill
  10. spring — the season
  11. spring — of water
  12. season — in sport
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. season — of the year
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. degree — temperature
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — moving air

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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