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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. fall — to drop
  3. shower — rain
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. degree — temperature
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. craft — a skill
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. key — the most important part
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. key — for a lock
  12. squash — the sport
  13. shower — to wash
  14. fall — the season
  15. squash — to crush
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. bark — to shout
  18. degree — from a university
  19. key — in music
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. degree — an amount
  22. fall — to drop
  23. ball — a great time
  24. ball — a dance

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