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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. craft — a skill
  3. suit — clothes
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. hand — in cards
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. suit — in cards
  9. march — music
  10. row — a line
  11. kid — child
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. cell — a phone
  14. suit — to fit
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. row — to paddle
  17. march — the month
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. march — the month
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. kid — to tease
  22. hand — help
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. bat — the animal

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