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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. march — music
  5. prune — to trim
  6. kid — to tease
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. season — in sport
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. season — of the year
  11. prune — to trim
  12. march — the month
  13. craft — boats
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. date — the fruit
  18. kid — child
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. march — the month
  22. hand — in cards
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. craft — a skill

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