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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 big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. degree — an amount
  4. toast — bread
  5. race — the arms race
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. stem — to come from
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. race — humankind
  12. prune — to trim
  13. degree — temperature
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. prune — to trim
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. craft — a skill
  18. rest — what's left
  19. race — a contest
  20. rest — what's left
  21. degree — from a university
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. rest — a break

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