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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: craft · clip · season · game · object · degree · face · wax

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. face — to confront
  3. degree — from a university
  4. object — an aim
  5. season — of the year
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. clip — a video
  9. craft — a skill
  10. game — wild animals
  11. object — to protest
  12. wax — to grow
  13. degree — an amount
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. game — a match
  17. degree — temperature
  18. clip — to cut
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. face — to point toward
  21. season — in sport
  22. face — part of the head
  23. object — a thing
  24. clip — for paper

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