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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. charge — a price
  3. hand — help
  4. craft — boats
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. craft — a skill
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. scale — in music
  10. spring — the season
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. scale — size or range
  13. hand — in cards
  14. capital — a city
  15. charge — in control
  16. capital — money
  17. spring — of water
  18. charge — electricity

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