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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 120 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. degree — an amount
  3. spring — the season
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. spring — a coil
  6. wax — to grow
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. squash — to crush
  9. spring — of water
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. squash — the sport
  12. degree — from a university
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. content — happy
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. vault — a safe
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. content — the amount
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. craft — boats
  24. degree — temperature

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