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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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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: fall · mark · kid · craft · pitcher · sharp · bound · cell

  1. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. bound — obliged
  3. fall — to drop
  4. fall — to drop
  5. sharp — clever
  6. cell — a phone
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. craft — boats
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. bound — tied together
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. bound — certain
  16. fall — the season
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. kid — to tease
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. mark — a grade
  21. mark — a trace
  22. kid — child
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. cell — in biology

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