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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. toast — bread
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. race — the arms race
  9. clip — a video
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. clip — to cut
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. race — a contest
  16. race — humankind
  17. capital — money
  18. degree — temperature
  19. craft — boats
  20. craft — a skill
  21. degree — from a university
  22. capital — a city
  23. clip — for paper
  24. fan — to cool the air

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