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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 124 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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. chair — a leader
  6. wound — an injury
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. row — a line
  11. prune — to trim
  12. fine — all right
  13. prune — to trim
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. deal — to handle
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. fine — high quality
  20. craft — a skill
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. kid — child
  23. wound — an injury
  24. row — to paddle

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