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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. track — a song
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. pound — a weight
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. chest — of your body
  10. craft — boats
  11. sharp — clever
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. track — a path
  15. track — to keep track
  16. chest — a box
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. scale — size or range
  23. chest — of your body
  24. scale — in music

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