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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. can — to be able to
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. cold — an illness
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — child
  11. court — of a king
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. can — a tin
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. bark — to shout
  17. court — for sport
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. craft — a skill
  20. kid — to tease
  21. pound — a weight
  22. cold — not warm
  23. can — a tin
  24. court — of law

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