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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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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. craft — boats
  3. tear — to rip
  4. craft — a skill
  5. court — of a king
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. court — of law
  8. present — a gift
  9. tear — from crying
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. present — the time now
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. chest — a box
  16. present — there
  17. tear — from crying
  18. firm — steady
  19. firm — a company
  20. branch — a division
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — the animal
  24. court — for sport

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