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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. present — a gift
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — to cut
  7. present — the time now
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — a box
  11. rock — a stone
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. chest — of your body
  14. row — a line
  15. rock — music
  16. craft — boats
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. present — there
  20. row — to paddle
  21. bark — to shout
  22. clip — a video
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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