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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: hand · pound · staff · craft · field · chest · prune · racket

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. craft — a skill
  3. prune — to trim
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. craft — boats
  6. field — a subject
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. pound — a weight
  12. hand — in cards
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — for sport
  15. prune — to trim
  16. staff — employees
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — a box
  20. staff — a stick
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. hand — help
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. chest — of your body

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