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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: cell · degree · wake · chest · bay · craft

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. chest — of your body
  5. craft — boats
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. degree — from a university
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. craft — a skill
  10. degree — an amount
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. wake — a trail
  15. cell — in biology
  16. degree — temperature
  17. chest — a box
  18. cell — in a prison

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