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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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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: fork · pit · wax · degree · cold · craft

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. wax — to grow
  3. pit — in a race
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. craft — boats
  6. cold — an illness
  7. degree — from a university
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. degree — an amount
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. degree — temperature
  14. fork — in a road
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. cold — not warm
  18. craft — a skill

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