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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: craft · hand · bark · chest · game · file · cabinet · press

  1. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. press — to push
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. file — a line of people
  8. hand — in cards
  9. chest — of your body
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. craft — a skill
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. file — a tool
  14. game — wild animals
  15. chest — a box
  16. press — a publisher
  17. game — a match
  18. chest — of your body
  19. craft — boats
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. press — newspapers
  22. bark — to shout
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. file — a document

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