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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. chip — to eat
  3. craft — a skill
  4. spring — a coil
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. rush — hurry
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. degree — an amount
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. degree — from a university
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. sharp — clever
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. craft — boats
  16. mine — for digging
  17. chip — for betting
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. spring — of water
  24. degree — temperature

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