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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. object — a thing
  3. bulb — for light
  4. bulb — for light
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. drill — army training
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. object — to protest
  9. object — an aim
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. ground — a position
  12. ground — the earth
  13. craft — a skill
  14. ground — crushed
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. degree — temperature
  19. drill — the tool
  20. drill — a practice
  21. sharp — clever
  22. degree — an amount
  23. bat — the animal
  24. craft — boats

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