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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. pass — a permit
  3. kid — to tease
  4. scale — size or range
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. scale — in music
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. degree — from a university
  12. branch — a division
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. plane — a tool
  15. degree — temperature
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. kid — child
  21. craft — a skill
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. bark — to shout
  24. degree — an amount

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