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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. prune — to trim
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. craft — boats
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. degree — an amount
  7. content — happy
  8. degree — from a university
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. shower — to wash
  13. prune — to trim
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. content — the amount
  17. wound — an injury
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. degree — temperature
  21. shower — rain
  22. craft — a skill
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. arm — part of the body

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