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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. craft — boats
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. craft — a skill
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. cell — a phone
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — for sport
  14. cell — in biology
  15. board — a committee
  16. kid — to tease
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. board — to get on
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. bark — to shout
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. kid — child
  24. bark — of a tree

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