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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: clip · craft · fall · row · bat · hide · scale · date

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. row — a line
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — to drop
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. craft — a skill
  9. bat — the animal
  10. clip — to cut
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. row — to paddle
  13. craft — boats
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. scale — in music
  16. clip — a video
  17. scale — size or range
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. date — the fruit
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. fall — the season
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. clip — for paper

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