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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. spell — letters
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. spell — magic
  6. snap — to click
  7. can — to be able to
  8. net — after costs
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. can — a tin
  11. can — a tin
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. net — in sport
  14. craft — a skill
  15. bear — the animal
  16. spell — a short time
  17. degree — temperature
  18. net — for catching
  19. wind — moving air
  20. craft — boats
  21. wind — moving air
  22. degree — an amount
  23. bear — the animal
  24. craft — a handicraft

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