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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 sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. branch — a division
  5. ground — crushed
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. wind — moving air
  8. ground — a position
  9. ground — the earth
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. degree — from a university
  12. last — final
  13. squash — the sport
  14. wind — moving air
  15. shower — rain
  16. craft — a skill
  17. degree — temperature
  18. last — to go on
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. degree — an amount
  22. squash — to crush
  23. last — finally
  24. shower — to wash

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