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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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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: craft · shower · degree · pit · sharp · file · kid · chair

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. craft — boats
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. kid — to tease
  5. shower — rain
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. file — a line of people
  8. shower — to wash
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. degree — temperature
  11. file — a tool
  12. file — a document
  13. degree — an amount
  14. sharp — clever
  15. chair — a leader
  16. pit — a hole
  17. pit — in a race
  18. kid — child
  19. degree — from a university
  20. craft — a skill
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. sharp — exactly

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