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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. mine — for digging
  4. last — final
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. track — a song
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. last — to go on
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — an injury
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. craft — boats
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. wax — to grow
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. track — a path
  22. track — to keep track
  23. last — finally
  24. pitch — completely

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