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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wind — moving air
  6. cap — a lid
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. cap — of ice
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. court — for sport
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. court — of law
  13. craft — boats
  14. degree — temperature
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. court — of a king
  18. wound — an injury
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. cap — a hat
  22. craft — a skill
  23. degree — an amount
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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