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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: pound · craft · rash · cold · temple · mine · degree · fall

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. mine — for digging
  4. fall — to drop
  5. degree — an amount
  6. craft — a skill
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. rash — a series
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. cold — an illness
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. pound — a weight
  14. cold — not warm
  15. rash — hasty
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. fall — the season
  21. craft — boats
  22. degree — temperature
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. fall — to drop

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