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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 116 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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. squash — to crush
  3. craft — boats
  4. clip — a video
  5. bark — to shout
  6. present — the time now
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. present — a gift
  9. rash — a series
  10. squash — the sport
  11. rash — hasty
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. clip — for paper
  15. hand — help
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. craft — a skill
  20. clip — to cut
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. hand — in cards
  24. present — there

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