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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. capital — money
  4. craft — a skill
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. mate — a friend
  8. cell — in biology
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. mate — a partner
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. capital — a city
  14. cell — a phone
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. mate — to breed
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — moving air

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