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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. craft — a skill
  3. tear — to rip
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. craft — boats
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. roll — a cake
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. ground — crushed
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. degree — temperature
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. ground — the earth
  18. degree — from a university
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. roll — a list
  21. tear — from crying
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. ground — a position
  24. chair — a leader

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