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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 · wound · bowl · roll · firm · bore · clip · kid

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. wound — an injury
  3. craft — a skill
  4. wound — an injury
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. craft — boats
  8. bore — to drill
  9. roll — a list
  10. roll — a cake
  11. firm — steady
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. kid — child
  14. clip — to cut
  15. kid — to tease
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. bore — to tire
  20. firm — a company
  21. firm — decided
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — a video
  24. craft — a handicraft

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