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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of 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. bark — a dog's sound
  4. season — of the year
  5. net — after costs
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. wind — moving air
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bat — the animal
  18. mine — for digging
  19. net — in sport
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. season — in sport
  24. net — for catching

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