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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. cell — a phone
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. key — in music
  6. can — a tin
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. can — to be able to
  9. degree — from a university
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. can — a tin
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. cell — in biology
  14. key — the most important part
  15. kid — to tease
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. key — for a lock
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. craft — boats
  20. degree — temperature
  21. kid — child
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. bat — the animal
  24. craft — a skill

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