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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 120 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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. shower — to wash
  4. craft — boats
  5. staff — employees
  6. file — a line of people
  7. staff — employees
  8. file — a tool
  9. bore — to tire
  10. bore — to drill
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. degree — temperature
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — rain
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. staff — a stick
  18. craft — a skill
  19. degree — from a university
  20. cell — in biology
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. degree — an amount
  23. ball — a dance
  24. file — a document

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