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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. craft — boats
  4. craft — a skill
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. shower — to wash
  7. court — for sport
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. mark — a grade
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. shower — rain
  14. prune — to trim
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. court — of law
  17. court — of a king
  18. bass — low music
  19. mark — a trace
  20. swing — in golf
  21. swing — to play on
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. mine — for digging
  24. swing — music

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