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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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468
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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. craft — boats
  3. craft — a skill
  4. spring — of water
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wind — moving air
  7. row — to paddle
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. degree — an amount
  10. tear — from crying
  11. press — to push
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. pit — in a race
  14. row — a line
  15. tear — from crying
  16. wind — moving air
  17. spring — a coil
  18. press — a publisher
  19. spring — the season
  20. press — newspapers
  21. tear — to rip
  22. degree — temperature
  23. pit — a hole
  24. degree — from a university

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