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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. degree — an amount
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. craft — a skill
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. race — a contest
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. degree — temperature
  11. wax — to grow
  12. press — newspapers
  13. press — a publisher
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. mine — for digging
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. race — humankind
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. degree — from a university
  20. press — to push
  21. race — the arms race
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. mine — belonging to me

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