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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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. shower — to wash
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. pop — soda
  7. pop — music
  8. tube — the underground
  9. game — wild animals
  10. craft — a skill
  11. land — a country
  12. tube — a container
  13. land — to come down
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. shower — rain
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. kick — in football
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. land — ground
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. pop — to visit
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. game — a match

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