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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bass · row · hand · cap · degree · craft · rock · kid

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — to tease
  3. hand — help
  4. hand — in cards
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. bass — low music
  7. rock — a stone
  8. row — a line
  9. degree — an amount
  10. craft — a skill
  11. degree — temperature
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — to paddle
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. cap — a hat
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. craft — boats
  20. rock — music
  21. cap — a lid
  22. cap — of ice
  23. degree — from a university
  24. bass — the fish

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