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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 120 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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. snap — to click
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. race — humankind
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. rash — hasty
  9. track — to keep track
  10. track — a path
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. race — a contest
  14. row — a line
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. race — the arms race
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. craft — a skill
  19. craft — boats
  20. bark — to shout
  21. row — to paddle
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. rash — a series

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