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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: deal · fork · craft · race · mine · degree

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. craft — boats
  4. craft — a skill
  5. fork — in a road
  6. deal — to handle
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. race — humankind
  10. degree — temperature
  11. race — a contest
  12. degree — from a university
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. degree — an amount
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. mine — for digging
  18. race — the arms race

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