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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. net — in sport
  3. last — final
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. kid — to tease
  8. bass — the fish
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. pit — in a race
  11. net — after costs
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. pit — a hole
  14. craft — boats
  15. last — to go on
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mine — for digging
  19. last — finally
  20. net — for catching
  21. bass — low music
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. dip — to sink
  24. craft — a skill

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