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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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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: degree · bound · craft · race · wind · saw

  1. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. 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. saw — the tool
  2. craft — a skill
  3. bound — certain
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. wind — moving air
  6. degree — an amount
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. craft — boats
  9. degree — from a university
  10. saw — the tool
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bound — tied together
  13. bound — obliged
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. race — humankind
  16. race — a contest
  17. race — the arms race
  18. 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