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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bass — the fish
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. board — a committee
  6. tear — to rip
  7. kid — child
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. kid — to tease
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. bass — low music
  12. shower — to wash
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. mine — for digging
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. shower — rain
  20. tear — from crying
  21. board — to get on
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. craft — a skill

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