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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. shower — rain
  3. wound — an injury
  4. shower — to wash
  5. track — a path
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. track — a song
  8. craft — boats
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. march — the month
  12. track — to keep track
  13. hand — in cards
  14. bark — to shout
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. bass — the fish
  17. bass — low music
  18. march — the month
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. craft — a skill
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. wound — an injury
  24. march — 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