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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. craft — boats
  3. can — to be able to
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. bound — obliged
  7. drill — a practice
  8. can — a tin
  9. net — after costs
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. drill — army training
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — the animal
  14. chest — of your body
  15. drill — the tool
  16. bound — tied together
  17. can — a tin
  18. net — for catching
  19. bound — certain
  20. chest — a box
  21. craft — a skill
  22. bark — to shout
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. net — in sport

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