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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 116 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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. field — farmland
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bass — low music
  5. kid — child
  6. wax — to grow
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bass — the fish
  9. tear — from crying
  10. degree — temperature
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. degree — an amount
  13. field — a subject
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. kid — to tease
  17. can — a tin
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. can — a tin
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. tear — to rip
  22. craft — a skill
  23. field — for sport
  24. can — to be able to

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