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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. club — for golf
  3. tear — from crying
  4. object — a thing
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. fall — the season
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. race — the arms race
  9. race — a contest
  10. race — humankind
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. tear — from crying
  13. file — a document
  14. bat — the animal
  15. fall — to drop
  16. tear — to rip
  17. club — for dancing
  18. file — a tool
  19. fall — to drop
  20. object — an aim
  21. craft — boats
  22. object — to protest
  23. club — a group
  24. file — a line of people

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