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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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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: bat · craft · rest · club · mouse · pound · spring · perch

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. craft — a skill
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. spring — a coil
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. rest — a break
  7. club — a group
  8. rest — what's left
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. spring — the season
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. spring — of water
  14. bat — the animal
  15. club — for golf
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. pound — a weight
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. rest — what's left
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. perch — the fish
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. craft — boats

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