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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. sharp — clever
  4. degree — temperature
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. net — after costs
  8. degree — from a university
  9. craft — a skill
  10. degree — an amount
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. last — to go on
  14. craft — boats
  15. rush — hurry
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. last — finally
  18. net — in sport
  19. net — for catching
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. wound — an injury
  23. last — final
  24. wax — to grow

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