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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.

Words on the sheet
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: craft · bound · capital · date · land · drill · degree · spell

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. bound — tied together
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. land — to come down
  5. degree — an amount
  6. land — ground
  7. craft — a skill
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. degree — temperature
  10. drill — army training
  11. bound — obliged
  12. capital — money
  13. spell — a short time
  14. bound — certain
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. spell — letters
  17. land — a country
  18. degree — from a university
  19. capital — a city
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. date — the fruit
  22. drill — a practice
  23. spell — magic
  24. drill — the tool

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