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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. rock — music
  4. chest — of your body
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. file — a line of people
  7. file — a document
  8. capital — money
  9. craft — a skill
  10. rock — a stone
  11. chest — a box
  12. capital — a city
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. pit — a hole
  15. file — a tool
  16. craft — boats
  17. chest — of your body
  18. pit — in a race

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