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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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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. chest — of your body
  4. ground — crushed
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. fall — to drop
  7. game — a match
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. wax — to grow
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. game — wild animals
  12. fall — the season
  13. ground — a position
  14. craft — a skill
  15. chest — of your body
  16. fall — to drop
  17. chest — a box
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. land — a country
  22. land — to come down
  23. ground — the earth
  24. land — ground

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