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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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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: track · craft · bat · bass · snap · hand · band · sharp

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. track — to keep track
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. hand — help
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. craft — a skill
  7. track — a path
  8. bass — low music
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. hand — in cards
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. craft — boats
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. bass — the fish
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. track — a song
  18. snap — to click
  19. sharp — clever
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. band — a music group
  22. band — a ring
  23. bat — the animal
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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