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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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Word bank
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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. mine — for digging
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. branch — a division
  8. wind — moving air
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. degree — from a university
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. wind — moving air
  17. craft — boats
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. degree — temperature
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. craft — a skill

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