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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 · tear · rash · bulb · club · bat · pound · march

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. march — the month
  3. craft — boats
  4. bat — the animal
  5. march — music
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. bulb — for light
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. club — for dancing
  10. tear — from crying
  11. craft — a skill
  12. club — for golf
  13. rash — a series
  14. bulb — for light
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. pound — a weight
  17. rash — hasty
  18. club — a group
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. march — the month
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. tear — to rip

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