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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. craft — a skill
  3. roll — a list
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. rash — hasty
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of law
  11. shower — rain
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. court — of a king
  16. bore — to drill
  17. shower — to wash
  18. bark — to shout
  19. craft — boats
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. rash — a series
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. wake — a trail
  24. bore — to tire

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