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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's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. degree — temperature
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. game — a match
  5. craft — a skill
  6. staff — employees
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. game — wild animals
  11. craft — boats
  12. degree — from a university
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. dip — to sink
  17. content — the amount
  18. shower — rain
  19. staff — employees
  20. bat — the animal
  21. degree — an amount
  22. content — happy
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. staff — a stick

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