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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. craft — boats
  3. bark — to shout
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. dip — to sink
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. shower — to wash
  8. club — a group
  9. chair — a leader
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. shower — rain
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. craft — a skill
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. club — for golf
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cell — a phone

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