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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 116 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. The water is too ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. cold — not warm
  3. ground — a position
  4. can — to be able to
  5. club — for golf
  6. can — a tin
  7. pass — a permit
  8. ground — crushed
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. ground — the earth
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. club — for dancing
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. craft — boats
  20. can — a tin
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bark — to shout
  23. bat — the animal
  24. club — a group

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