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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: degree · kid · craft · bass · racket · saw · stem · straw

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. stem — to come from
  3. degree — temperature
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. kid — to tease
  6. degree — an amount
  7. craft — a skill
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. craft — boats
  12. bass — the fish
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. saw — the tool
  16. bass — low music
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. degree — from a university
  20. saw — the tool
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. straw — a straw man

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