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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. degree — from a university
  3. craft — a skill
  4. band — a ring
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. bear — the animal
  8. date — the fruit
  9. chair — a leader
  10. row — a line
  11. degree — temperature
  12. degree — an amount
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. band — a music group
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. mine — for digging
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. craft — boats
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. bear — the animal
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. row — to paddle

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