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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. craft — boats
  4. ball — a dance
  5. hand — in cards
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. field — a subject
  8. drill — a practice
  9. craft — a skill
  10. pound — a weight
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. fall — to drop
  14. ball — a great time
  15. field — for sport
  16. hand — help
  17. field — farmland
  18. drill — the tool
  19. drill — army training
  20. fall — to drop
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. fall — the season
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. bat — 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