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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. craft — boats
  3. hand — help
  4. hand — in cards
  5. mark — a trace
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. mark — a grade
  10. ground — the earth
  11. ground — a position
  12. degree — an amount
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. root — the cause
  15. ground — crushed
  16. root — of a plant
  17. craft — a skill
  18. mine — for digging
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. degree — temperature
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. root — of a word
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. wave — of the sea

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