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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mine — for digging
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. craft — a skill
  5. bat — the animal
  6. chest — of your body
  7. craft — boats
  8. prune — to trim
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. chest — a box
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. saw — the tool
  16. march — music
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. march — the month
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. saw — the tool
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. chest — of your body
  23. prune — to trim
  24. march — the month

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