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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: craft · degree · lie · shower · bound · coach · cell · dip

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. craft — a skill
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. degree — temperature
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. shower — to wash
  8. craft — boats
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. cell — in biology
  11. lie — to recline
  12. cell — a phone
  13. shower — rain
  14. bound — tied together
  15. bound — obliged
  16. bound — certain
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. degree — an amount
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. dip — to sink
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. lie — an untruth

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