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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 120 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: hand · craft · chair · bear · deal · bat · cell · shower

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — in cards
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. bear — the animal
  8. bat — the animal
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. shower — rain
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. chair — a leader
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. craft — boats
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. cell — in biology
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bear — the animal
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. shower — to wash
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. deal — to handle
  23. cell — a phone
  24. craft — a skill

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