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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. suit — to fit
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. degree — temperature
  5. craft — a skill
  6. degree — an amount
  7. bass — the fish
  8. clip — for paper
  9. suit — clothes
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. cue — for pool
  12. clip — to cut
  13. craft — boats
  14. degree — from a university
  15. cue — a signal
  16. scale — size or range
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. field — a subject
  19. suit — in cards
  20. field — for sport
  21. scale — in music
  22. bass — low music
  23. clip — a video
  24. field — farmland

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