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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 116 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. shower — to wash
  4. mark — a grade
  5. march — music
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. saw — the tool
  9. ground — crushed
  10. march — the month
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. mark — a trace
  13. march — the month
  14. saw — the tool
  15. craft — boats
  16. shower — rain
  17. degree — temperature
  18. mine — for digging
  19. craft — a skill
  20. ground — a position
  21. degree — from a university
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. ground — the earth
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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