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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. court — of a king
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. tear — from crying
  5. lean — to bend
  6. craft — a skill
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — an amount
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. craft — boats
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. capital — money
  16. degree — from a university
  17. tear — from crying
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. court — of law
  20. scale — in music
  21. scale — size or range
  22. capital — a city
  23. court — for sport
  24. tear — to rip

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