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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 116 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: craft · march · mate · row · degree · spell · straw · band

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. band — a music group
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. spell — magic
  7. row — to paddle
  8. degree — temperature
  9. mate — a friend
  10. mate — to breed
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. row — a line
  13. spell — a short time
  14. march — the month
  15. degree — from a university
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. craft — a skill
  18. band — a ring
  19. craft — boats
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. degree — an amount
  22. mate — a partner
  23. spell — letters
  24. march — music

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