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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. craft — a skill
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. club — for golf
  5. club — for dancing
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. spring — the season
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. spring — a coil
  10. spring — of water
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. scale — size or range
  13. present — the time now
  14. scale — in music
  15. craft — boats
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. present — there
  18. club — a group

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