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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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. craft — boats
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. staff — a stick
  5. tear — to rip
  6. march — the month
  7. cold — not warm
  8. tear — from crying
  9. degree — an amount
  10. march — the month
  11. degree — temperature
  12. branch — a division
  13. degree — from a university
  14. march — music
  15. staff — employees
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. staff — employees
  18. tear — from crying
  19. ball — a dance
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. craft — a skill
  24. ball — a great time

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