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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. degree — from a university
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. key — the most important part
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. cell — a phone
  10. craft — a skill
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. degree — an amount
  13. ground — crushed
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — an injury
  17. key — for a lock
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. key — in music
  20. cell — in biology
  21. ground — a position
  22. degree — temperature
  23. ground — the earth
  24. racket — for tennis

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