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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. craft — a skill
  3. degree — an amount
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. wind — moving air
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. degree — from a university
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. chair — a leader
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — a break
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. wind — moving air
  16. row — to paddle
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. row — a line
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. degree — temperature
  22. rest — what's left
  23. perch — the fish
  24. perch — for a bird

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