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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. fine — all right
  4. bank — of a river
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. craft — a skill
  7. degree — an amount
  8. bank — for money
  9. court — of a king
  10. chair — a leader
  11. craft — boats
  12. ground — a position
  13. court — for sport
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. degree — from a university
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. ground — crushed
  20. bank — for money
  21. court — of law
  22. degree — temperature
  23. ground — the earth
  24. craft — a handicraft

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