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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. bound — obliged
  4. kick — in football
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. tear — to rip
  8. craft — boats
  9. drill — army training
  10. shower — to wash
  11. shower — rain
  12. tear — from crying
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. tear — from crying
  15. drill — the tool
  16. drill — a practice
  17. date — the fruit
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. bound — tied together
  20. chair — a leader
  21. bound — certain
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. date — on the calendar

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