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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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468
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: scale · bound · degree · tear · bat · craft · shower · lie

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. shower — to wash
  5. bound — tied together
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. degree — an amount
  8. tear — to rip
  9. shower — rain
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — from crying
  12. lie — to recline
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. degree — from a university
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. degree — temperature
  17. craft — boats
  18. scale — size or range
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bound — obliged
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. craft — a skill
  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