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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 120 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 · shower · game · drill · suit · content · file · degree

  1. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. degree — from a university
  3. game — wild animals
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. shower — rain
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. game — a match
  8. suit — in cards
  9. content — the amount
  10. suit — clothes
  11. drill — army training
  12. degree — an amount
  13. drill — the tool
  14. shower — to wash
  15. drill — a practice
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. craft — boats
  18. degree — temperature
  19. file — a tool
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a line of people
  23. craft — a skill
  24. content — happy

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