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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. craft — boats
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. rush — hurry
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. bank — for money
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. degree — an amount
  10. wake — a trail
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. hand — in cards
  13. degree — temperature
  14. bank — of a river
  15. craft — a skill
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. cell — a phone
  22. hand — help
  23. bank — for money
  24. hand — part of the body

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