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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 116 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: bark · tear · craft · scale · race · pound

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. scale — in music
  4. race — humankind
  5. tear — from crying
  6. craft — a skill
  7. scale — size or range
  8. bark — to shout
  9. tear — to rip
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. race — a contest
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. race — the arms race
  18. pound — a weight

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