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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. craft — a skill
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. chest — a box
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. suit — in cards
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. cold — an illness
  13. suit — to fit
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. suit — clothes
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. bass — the fish
  19. swing — in golf
  20. swing — music
  21. bass — low music
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bark — to shout
  24. swing — to play on

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