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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. scale — size or range
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. content — the amount
  5. hand — help
  6. fine — all right
  7. fine — high quality
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. kid — to tease
  10. craft — a skill
  11. kid — child
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. tear — to rip
  15. content — happy
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. tear — from crying
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. tear — from crying
  20. hand — in cards
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. scale — in music
  24. vault — a safe

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