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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: stem · degree · hand · race · spell · key · craft · net

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. key — the most important part
  3. degree — an amount
  4. hand — help
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. race — the arms race
  7. spell — a short time
  8. spell — magic
  9. hand — in cards
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. spell — letters
  12. degree — temperature
  13. net — for catching
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. net — in sport
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. race — a contest
  18. craft — a skill
  19. key — for a lock
  20. key — in music
  21. degree — from a university
  22. race — humankind
  23. craft — boats
  24. stem — to come from

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