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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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. tear — to rip
  3. craft — a skill
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. tear — from crying
  6. craft — boats
  7. wax — to grow
  8. land — ground
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. capital — money
  11. capital — a city
  12. sharp — clever
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. land — to come down
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cold — an illness
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. land — a country
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. cold — not warm
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. cold — the Cold War

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