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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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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: straw · craft · chest · snap · chair · shower · spell · racket

  1. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. chair — a leader
  6. spell — letters
  7. spell — a short time
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. craft — boats
  10. chest — of your body
  11. snap — to click
  12. shower — to wash
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. shower — rain
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. spell — magic
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. chest — of your body
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. chest — a box

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