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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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. pit — in a race
  3. track — to keep track
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. charge — a price
  6. mine — for digging
  7. charge — electricity
  8. kid — to tease
  9. wind — moving air
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. kid — child
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. wind — moving air
  17. charge — in control
  18. craft — a skill
  19. pit — a hole
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. track — a song
  23. track — a path
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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