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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. craft — a skill
  3. land — a country
  4. land — ground
  5. pop — music
  6. degree — temperature
  7. face — to point toward
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. face — part of the head
  10. degree — an amount
  11. face — to confront
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. pop — to visit
  19. pop — soda
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. craft — boats
  24. land — to come down

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