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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: march · wound · degree · pound · bear · sharp · hand · craft

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. bear — the animal
  4. march — music
  5. wound — an injury
  6. craft — a skill
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. march — the month
  9. pound — a weight
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. sharp — clever
  14. hand — in cards
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — an amount
  17. wound — an injury
  18. craft — boats
  19. bear — the animal
  20. march — the month
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. hand — help

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