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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 fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. rash — hasty
  3. craft — a skill
  4. kid — to tease
  5. kid — child
  6. race — a contest
  7. spell — letters
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. bass — low music
  11. race — humankind
  12. rash — a series
  13. spell — a short time
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. press — a publisher
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. craft — boats
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. race — the arms race
  22. press — newspapers
  23. spell — magic
  24. press — to push

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