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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 120 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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. can — to be able to
  3. shower — to wash
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. can — a tin
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — the animal
  10. root — of a word
  11. craft — a skill
  12. degree — temperature
  13. craft — boats
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. root — of a plant
  18. root — the cause
  19. game — wild animals
  20. degree — an amount
  21. shower — rain
  22. can — a tin
  23. degree — from a university
  24. craft — a handicraft

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