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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: rest · craft · saw · object · kick · date · degree · march

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. object — a thing
  4. march — the month
  5. object — to protest
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — temperature
  10. march — the month
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. saw — the tool
  14. degree — an amount
  15. object — an aim
  16. kick — in football
  17. craft — boats
  18. march — music
  19. craft — a skill
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rest — a break
  22. rest — what's left
  23. date — the fruit
  24. saw — 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