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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: land · degree · mine · craft · tear · wake · bear · net

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. wake — a trail
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. craft — a skill
  5. tear — from crying
  6. degree — from a university
  7. net — in sport
  8. land — ground
  9. degree — an amount
  10. craft — boats
  11. land — to come down
  12. land — a country
  13. tear — to rip
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. net — after costs
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bear — the animal
  18. degree — temperature
  19. net — for catching
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. mine — for digging
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. bear — the animal

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