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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. degree — an amount
  4. board — to get on
  5. craft — a skill
  6. degree — from a university
  7. degree — temperature
  8. race — the arms race
  9. craft — boats
  10. board — a committee
  11. track — a song
  12. cold — not warm
  13. track — to keep track
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. race — humankind
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. race — a contest
  20. cold — an illness
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. track — a path

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