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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. hand — in cards
  4. can — a tin
  5. wound — an injury
  6. lean — thin
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. hand — help
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. plane — a tool
  12. craft — a skill
  13. wound — an injury
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. capital — money
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. lean — to bend
  19. craft — boats
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — a city
  24. can — a tin

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