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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. bass — the fish
  6. row — a line
  7. game — wild animals
  8. bass — low music
  9. game — a match
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. craft — boats
  12. deal — to handle
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. march — the month
  16. row — to paddle
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. march — the month
  19. march — music
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. scale — size or range
  22. scale — in music
  23. date — the fruit
  24. craft — a handicraft

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