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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. craft — a skill
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. row — to paddle
  6. degree — from a university
  7. drill — a practice
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. degree — temperature
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. bear — the animal
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. field — farmland
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. degree — an amount
  16. field — for sport
  17. drill — army training
  18. bat — the animal
  19. craft — boats
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. drill — the tool
  22. bear — the animal
  23. field — a subject
  24. row — a line

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