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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. craft — boats
  3. suit — to fit
  4. degree — an amount
  5. drill — a practice
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. craft — a skill
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. degree — temperature
  11. present — a gift
  12. suit — in cards
  13. drill — army training
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. present — there
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. scale — in music
  19. drill — the tool
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. degree — from a university
  22. present — the time now
  23. scale — size or range
  24. suit — clothes

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