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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. chest — of your body
  3. rush — hurry
  4. file — a line of people
  5. craft — a skill
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. bank — of a river
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. wind — moving air
  10. file — a tool
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. chest — a box
  14. wind — moving air
  15. bank — for money
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. bank — for money
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. file — a document

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