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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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468
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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. face — to confront
  3. scale — in music
  4. file — a tool
  5. craft — a skill
  6. scale — size or range
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. file — a line of people
  9. face — part of the head
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. craft — boats
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. degree — temperature
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. file — a document
  20. degree — an amount
  21. face — to point toward
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. fork — in a road

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