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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 116 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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. spell — magic
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. capital — a city
  7. craft — boats
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. capital — money
  11. land — to come down
  12. spell — a short time
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. land — ground
  15. craft — a skill
  16. cold — not warm
  17. spell — letters
  18. cold — an illness

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