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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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. hand — help
  3. craft — boats
  4. hand — in cards
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. row — a line
  7. bark — to shout
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. chair — a leader
  11. pound — a weight
  12. row — to paddle
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. craft — a skill
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. capital — a city
  20. capital — money
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. patient — a sick person

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