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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. mate — to breed
  4. net — in sport
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. track — a path
  8. net — after costs
  9. mate — a friend
  10. prune — to trim
  11. mate — a partner
  12. bat — the animal
  13. last — finally
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. craft — boats
  17. track — to keep track
  18. net — for catching
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. last — final
  23. last — to go on
  24. track — a song

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