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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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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: track · degree · pound · rock · race · craft · last · tear

  1. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. last — final
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. track — a song
  5. tear — to rip
  6. craft — boats
  7. degree — an amount
  8. track — a path
  9. tear — from crying
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. last — finally
  13. track — to keep track
  14. race — humankind
  15. pound — a weight
  16. last — to go on
  17. craft — a skill
  18. race — the arms race
  19. rock — music
  20. degree — temperature
  21. tear — from crying
  22. degree — from a university
  23. rock — a stone
  24. race — a contest

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