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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. craft — boats
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. bulb — for light
  5. spring — of water
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. cell — a phone
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. bulb — for light
  10. spring — a coil
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. cell — in biology
  14. bore — to tire
  15. bore — to drill
  16. march — music
  17. degree — from a university
  18. sharp — clever
  19. spring — the season
  20. march — the month
  21. craft — a skill
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. degree — an amount
  24. march — the month

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