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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: coach · row · craft · cold · pitcher · degree · kid · mouse

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — temperature
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. craft — a skill
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. degree — an amount
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. kid — to tease
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. row — a line
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. row — to paddle
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. craft — boats
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. cold — not warm
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. kid — child
  24. cold — an illness

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