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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 124 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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. degree — temperature
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bat — the animal
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. degree — an amount
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. row — a line
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. row — to paddle
  15. degree — from a university
  16. wound — an injury
  17. craft — a skill
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. tube — the underground
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. tube — a container
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. hide — to keep secret

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