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

Word bank: craft · chair · bowl · march · bank · kid

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. march — the month
  3. craft — a skill
  4. craft — boats
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. march — music
  8. chair — a leader
  9. bank — for money
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. march — the month
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. bank — for money
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. kid — to tease
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. bank — of a river

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