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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. can — to be able to
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. craft — boats
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. craft — a skill
  7. shower — to wash
  8. kid — to tease
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. bat — the animal
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. shower — rain
  16. capital — money
  17. fork — in a road
  18. can — a tin
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. can — a tin

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