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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. craft — a skill
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. last — final
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. last — to go on
  8. last — finally
  9. race — humankind
  10. drill — a practice
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. shower — rain
  14. drill — the tool
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. drill — army training
  17. scale — size or range
  18. shower — to wash
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. pitch — completely
  21. race — the arms race
  22. race — a contest
  23. scale — in music
  24. lash — an eyelash

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