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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. craft — a skill
  3. chair — a leader
  4. degree — an amount
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. file — a tool
  7. race — humankind
  8. net — after costs
  9. craft — boats
  10. race — the arms race
  11. net — for catching
  12. file — a document
  13. degree — temperature
  14. bear — the animal
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. file — a line of people
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. bear — the animal
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. degree — from a university
  22. net — in sport
  23. race — a contest
  24. bear — to put up with

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