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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: kid · land · nail · cell · saw · craft · squash · bat

  1. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. craft — boats
  4. land — ground
  5. craft — a skill
  6. bat — the animal
  7. cell — a phone
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. cell — in biology
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. saw — the tool
  14. land — to come down
  15. squash — to crush
  16. land — a country
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. squash — the sport
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. kid — to tease
  23. saw — the tool
  24. squash — the vegetable

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