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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. mine — for digging
  3. degree — an amount
  4. degree — from a university
  5. band — a ring
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. band — a music group
  8. hand — help
  9. club — for dancing
  10. rash — hasty
  11. hand — in cards
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. rash — a series
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. craft — a skill
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. club — a group
  19. club — for golf
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. degree — temperature
  22. fine — all right
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. fine — high quality

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