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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. cap — a lid
  3. degree — from a university
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — a video
  10. present — there
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. wound — an injury
  13. vault — a safe
  14. present — a gift
  15. bass — low music
  16. cap — of ice
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. cap — a hat
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. degree — temperature
  21. degree — an amount
  22. craft — boats
  23. bass — the fish
  24. present — the time now

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