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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. perch — the fish
  3. bark — to shout
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. land — to come down
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. land — ground
  9. last — finally
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. craft — a skill
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — help
  15. tube — the underground
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. last — final
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. tube — a container
  23. land — a country
  24. last — to go on

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