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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. craft — a skill
  3. rock — music
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. spring — the season
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. last — to go on
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. spring — a coil
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. rash — a series
  13. spring — of water
  14. bat — the animal
  15. rash — hasty
  16. last — finally
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. craft — boats
  19. rock — a stone
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. last — final
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. fan — a supporter

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