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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. degree — from a university
  3. mark — a grade
  4. spell — magic
  5. season — of the year
  6. tear — from crying
  7. mark — a trace
  8. spell — letters
  9. land — ground
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. craft — a skill
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. degree — temperature
  14. land — to come down
  15. craft — boats
  16. hand — help
  17. tear — to rip
  18. tear — from crying
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. land — a country
  21. degree — an amount
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. hand — in cards
  24. spell — a short time

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