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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — from a university
  4. mark — a grade
  5. current — of water
  6. current — happening now
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. tear — from crying
  12. degree — temperature
  13. current — electric
  14. saw — the tool
  15. craft — boats
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. tear — from crying
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. mark — a trace
  20. land — ground
  21. tear — to rip
  22. bat — the animal
  23. land — a country
  24. land — to come down

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