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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. craft — boats
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. craft — a skill
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. capital — a city
  10. field — a subject
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. date — the fruit
  14. field — for sport
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. field — farmland
  19. capital — money
  20. snap — to click
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. bear — the animal
  24. bear — the animal

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