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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. shower — rain
  3. craft — boats
  4. kick — in football
  5. saw — the tool
  6. ball — a great time
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. field — farmland
  10. craft — a skill
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. field — for sport
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. ball — a dance
  18. shower — to wash
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — an injury
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. bat — the animal
  24. field — a subject

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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