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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. spring — the season
  3. court — of law
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. court — of a king
  6. clip — a video
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. court — for sport
  11. shower — rain
  12. clip — to cut
  13. spring — of water
  14. clip — for paper
  15. pound — a weight
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. spring — a coil
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. shower — to wash
  21. bark — to shout
  22. deal — to handle
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. craft — boats

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