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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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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: tear · spring · craft · club · fork · degree · charge · race

  1. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. tear — from crying
  3. craft — a skill
  4. club — a group
  5. charge — electricity
  6. charge — a price
  7. spring — of water
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. club — for golf
  10. spring — the season
  11. degree — from a university
  12. fork — in a road
  13. tear — from crying
  14. charge — in control
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. degree — an amount
  17. spring — a coil
  18. race — a contest
  19. tear — to rip
  20. club — for dancing
  21. craft — boats
  22. degree — temperature
  23. race — the arms race
  24. race — humankind

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