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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. craft — boats
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. sharp — clever
  7. degree — from a university
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. foot — a measure
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. staff — employees
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. staff — a stick
  16. degree — temperature
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm
  19. craft — a skill
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. staff — employees
  24. foot — part of the body

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