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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. game — wild animals
  3. bank — for money
  4. bank — for money
  5. bank — of a river
  6. net — for catching
  7. drill — a practice
  8. degree — an amount
  9. net — after costs
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. craft — boats
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. can — a tin
  14. degree — temperature
  15. drill — army training
  16. drill — the tool
  17. net — in sport
  18. can — a tin
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. game — a match
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. bat — the animal
  23. can — to be able to
  24. craft — a skill

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