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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: row · bark · craft · cell · cold · bowl

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. craft — boats
  3. row — to paddle
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. craft — a skill
  8. bark — to shout
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. cold — not warm
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. cell — a phone
  14. cell — in biology
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. row — a line
  18. bowl — to roll

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