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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: degree · bound · nail · craft · chest · march · saw · cue

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. march — the month
  3. craft — boats
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. saw — the tool
  8. chest — of your body
  9. march — the month
  10. cue — a signal
  11. march — music
  12. cue — for pool
  13. craft — a skill
  14. degree — an amount
  15. chest — of your body
  16. cue — a hint
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bound — tied together
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. chest — a box
  21. degree — from a university
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. bound — obliged
  24. bound — certain

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