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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. tube — the underground
  3. swing — to play on
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. game — a match
  7. craft — a skill
  8. tube — a container
  9. pound — a weight
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. game — wild animals
  13. row — to paddle
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. swing — in golf
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. row — a line
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. swing — music
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. bat — the animal

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