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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: craft · chest · racket · row · clip · board · rash · trunk

  1. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. board — to get on
  6. rash — hasty
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. row — a line
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. craft — a skill
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — to cut
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. rash — a series
  18. board — a committee
  19. clip — for paper
  20. chest — a box
  21. row — to paddle
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. craft — boats
  24. trunk — of a tree

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