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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. rash — hasty
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. craft — a skill
  5. chair — a leader
  6. wind — moving air
  7. rash — a series
  8. scale — in music
  9. bulb — for light
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. wind — moving air
  18. scale — size or range
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bulb — for light
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. band — a ring
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. band — a music group

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