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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. spring — of water
  3. tear — from crying
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. craft — a skill
  6. rock — music
  7. tear — to rip
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — temperature
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. spring — a coil
  12. deal — to handle
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. spring — the season
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. degree — an amount
  17. rock — a stone
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. craft — boats
  20. tear — from crying
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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