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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: fan · lean · craft · racket · degree · court · hand · bass

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. degree — an amount
  3. court — of law
  4. bass — low music
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — in cards
  7. court — for sport
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. lean — thin
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. lean — to bend
  16. degree — from a university
  17. craft — a skill
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. bass — the fish
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. court — of a king
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. degree — temperature

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