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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: perch · craft · band · capital · fall · race · fork · hide

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. fall — the season
  8. race — humankind
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. fall — to drop
  11. band — a music group
  12. fork — in a road
  13. capital — money
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. perch — the fish
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. craft — a skill
  20. capital — a city
  21. band — a ring
  22. fall — to drop
  23. race — the arms race
  24. race — a contest

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