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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. net — after costs
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. bat — the animal
  5. spring — a coil
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. snap — to click
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. craft — boats
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. net — for catching
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. net — in sport
  17. spring — the season
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. roll — a cake
  21. spring — of water
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. roll — a list

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