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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. bass — the fish
  3. craft — a skill
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wound — an injury
  7. craft — boats
  8. wake — a trail
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. bass — low music
  13. wound — an injury
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. plane — a tool
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. degree — from a university
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. degree — an amount

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