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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 information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. file — a document
  3. spring — the season
  4. chair — a leader
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. file — a tool
  7. season — of the year
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. file — a line of people
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. degree — an amount
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. degree — from a university
  17. craft — a skill
  18. spring — of water
  19. season — in sport
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. spring — a coil
  22. stand — to bear
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. degree — temperature

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