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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. race — a contest
  3. sharp — clever
  4. degree — temperature
  5. band — a music group
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. degree — from a university
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. branch — a division
  11. race — the arms race
  12. spell — magic
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. race — humankind
  15. pitch — completely
  16. degree — an amount
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. spell — letters
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. band — a ring
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. craft — a skill
  23. spell — a short time
  24. branch — of a tree

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