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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 116 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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. wake — a trail
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. race — a contest
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. degree — from a university
  8. scale — size or range
  9. race — humankind
  10. bat — the animal
  11. pound — a weight
  12. craft — a skill
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. scale — in music
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. race — the arms race
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — temperature
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. calf — a young animal

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