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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 120 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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. bat — the animal
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. drill — army training
  5. drill — a practice
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. club — a group
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. wind — moving air
  12. drill — the tool
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. craft — a skill
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. club — for dancing
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. club — for golf
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. perch — the fish
  24. patient — a sick person

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