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

Word bank: last · pound · kid · craft · degree · snap

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  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. pound — for dogs
  2. craft — boats
  3. snap — to click
  4. pound — a weight
  5. last — finally
  6. degree — an amount
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. degree — from a university
  9. last — to go on
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — to tease
  12. kid — child
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. craft — a skill
  15. last — final
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. craft — a handicraft
  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