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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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. degree — from a university
  4. cell — in biology
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. craft — boats
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. file — a document
  12. season — of the year
  13. file — a tool
  14. craft — a skill
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. season — in sport
  17. hand — help
  18. ball — a great time
  19. file — a line of people
  20. cell — a phone
  21. ball — a dance
  22. hand — in cards
  23. degree — an amount
  24. degree — temperature

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