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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 · bat · pound · bark · kid · branch

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. craft — boats
  5. branch — a division
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. bat — the animal
  8. kid — to tease
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. bark — to shout
  11. craft — a skill
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. pound — a weight
  18. kid — child

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