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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. cell — a phone
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. wound — an injury
  5. craft — boats
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. degree — an amount
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. degree — temperature
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. hand — in cards
  12. club — a group
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cell — in biology
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. degree — from a university
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. hand — help
  21. club — for golf
  22. club — for dancing
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. perch — the fish

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