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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. tear — from crying
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. bound — tied together
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. tear — from crying
  7. court — of law
  8. bound — obliged
  9. mark — a grade
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. bound — certain
  12. craft — a skill
  13. tear — to rip
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. degree — from a university
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. degree — temperature
  20. craft — boats
  21. mark — a trace
  22. court — for sport
  23. court — of a king
  24. deal — to handle

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