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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. march — music
  3. hand — help
  4. race — a contest
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. craft — a skill
  7. race — humankind
  8. degree — from a university
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. degree — temperature
  12. march — the month
  13. degree — an amount
  14. season — of the year
  15. march — the month
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. season — in sport
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. hand — in cards
  22. race — the arms race
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. vault — a safe

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