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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. squash — the sport
  4. rock — music
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — a video
  8. chair — a leader
  9. spring — the season
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. content — the amount
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. spring — a coil
  15. squash — to crush
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. craft — a skill
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. rock — a stone
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. spring — of water
  22. content — happy
  23. clip — to cut
  24. racket — for tennis

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