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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. spring — a coil
  3. staff — a stick
  4. kid — to tease
  5. swing — in golf
  6. bass — low music
  7. wound — an injury
  8. staff — employees
  9. key — for a lock
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. spring — of water
  12. craft — a skill
  13. key — in music
  14. staff — employees
  15. swing — music
  16. swing — to play on
  17. kid — child
  18. spring — the season
  19. wound — an injury
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. key — the most important part
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. bass — the fish

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