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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. land — to come down
  4. pitch — completely
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. season — in sport
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. last — final
  9. season — of the year
  10. degree — temperature
  11. last — to go on
  12. degree — an amount
  13. degree — from a university
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. clip — a video
  16. craft — a skill
  17. last — finally
  18. clip — to cut
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. land — ground
  22. land — a country
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. clip — for paper

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