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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  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. kick — in football
  3. cold — not warm
  4. degree — an amount
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. band — a ring
  7. content — happy
  8. content — the amount
  9. band — a music group
  10. present — a gift
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. degree — from a university
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. cold — an illness
  18. deal — to handle
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. present — there
  21. craft — boats
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. degree — temperature
  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