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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. craft — a skill
  3. stem — to come from
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. bat — the animal
  8. degree — from a university
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. degree — an amount
  11. rule — government
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. degree — temperature
  15. ground — crushed
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. ground — the earth
  20. wax — to grow
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. rule — a law
  23. ground — a position
  24. bat — in an idiom

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