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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 116 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: pound · kid · band · march · craft · bat · scale · sharp

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. kid — to tease
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. scale — in music
  7. craft — a skill
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. sharp — clever
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. kid — child
  13. march — music
  14. march — the month
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. craft — boats
  18. pound — a weight
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. march — the month
  21. band — a music group
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. band — a ring

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