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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. craft — a skill
  3. degree — temperature
  4. bass — low music
  5. degree — from a university
  6. club — for golf
  7. pop — soda
  8. spell — a short time
  9. pop — to visit
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. bass — the fish
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. craft — boats
  15. bat — the animal
  16. spell — magic
  17. spell — letters
  18. club — a group
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. club — for dancing
  21. pop — music
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. bat — for 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