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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. degree — temperature
  3. stock — goods
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. fork — in a road
  6. craft — boats
  7. degree — from a university
  8. march — the month
  9. march — music
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. game — a match
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. bear — the animal
  15. degree — an amount
  16. bear — the animal
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. stock — shares
  22. game — wild animals
  23. march — the month
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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