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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 · race · degree · trunk · season · land · cold · fine

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. cold — an illness
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — temperature
  6. land — ground
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. land — to come down
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. fine — high quality
  11. craft — a skill
  12. race — a contest
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — humankind
  15. fine — all right
  16. season — in sport
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. degree — an amount
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. season — of the year
  22. land — a country
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. craft — boats

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