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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: mate · can · chair · pound · craft · tear · cold · scale

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. can — a tin
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. can — to be able to
  8. cold — not warm
  9. scale — in music
  10. mate — a partner
  11. pound — a weight
  12. cold — an illness
  13. tear — from crying
  14. craft — a skill
  15. mate — to breed
  16. chair — a leader
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. mate — a friend
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. scale — size or range
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. can — a tin
  23. tear — to rip
  24. tear — from crying

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