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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: degree · saw · current · face · craft · last · leaves · clip

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. last — to go on
  4. degree — temperature
  5. degree — from a university
  6. saw — the tool
  7. clip — a video
  8. current — of water
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. current — electric
  11. last — finally
  12. craft — a skill
  13. clip — to cut
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. face — part of the head
  16. clip — for paper
  17. craft — boats
  18. degree — an amount
  19. current — happening now
  20. face — to point toward
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. saw — the tool
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. face — to confront

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