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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. tear — from crying
  4. degree — from a university
  5. craft — boats
  6. club — a group
  7. drill — army training
  8. tear — to rip
  9. scale — size or range
  10. net — after costs
  11. degree — an amount
  12. degree — temperature
  13. drill — a practice
  14. club — for golf
  15. net — for catching
  16. drill — the tool
  17. craft — a skill
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. tear — from crying
  20. club — for dancing
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. snap — to click
  23. scale — in music
  24. net — in sport

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