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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: kid · trunk · degree · bass · craft · pound · pit · file

  1. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. kid — to tease
  6. bass — low music
  7. degree — from a university
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. file — a line of people
  10. pit — in a race
  11. degree — temperature
  12. degree — an amount
  13. craft — boats
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. pound — a weight
  16. kid — child
  17. pit — a hole
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. bass — the fish
  20. file — a tool
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. file — a document

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