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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 116 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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. hand — help
  3. swing — to play on
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. club — for dancing
  6. content — the amount
  7. last — final
  8. content — happy
  9. craft — a skill
  10. club — a group
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. cap — a hat
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. bark — to shout
  16. hand — in cards
  17. last — finally
  18. club — for golf
  19. last — to go on
  20. swing — in golf
  21. craft — boats
  22. cap — a lid
  23. swing — music
  24. cap — of ice

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