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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: bark · race · craft · sharp · shower · band · trunk · wave

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. craft — a skill
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. band — a ring
  5. race — a contest
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. craft — boats
  11. race — humankind
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. sharp — clever
  18. bark — to shout
  19. race — the arms race
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. band — a music group
  22. shower — rain
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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