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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 116 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. craft — a skill
  4. craft — boats
  5. saw — the tool
  6. fork — in a road
  7. cold — an illness
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. kick — in football
  10. saw — the tool
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. degree — temperature
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. cold — not warm
  21. perch — the fish
  22. degree — an amount
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. kick — a thrill

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