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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bowl · kid · craft · degree · band · scale

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. craft — a skill
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. band — a music group
  7. craft — boats
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. band — a ring
  12. kid — child
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. scale — size or range
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — temperature
  17. scale — in music
  18. degree — an amount

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