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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. land — a country
  3. craft — a skill
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. scale — size or range
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — a coil
  9. wind — moving air
  10. toast — bread
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. scale — in music
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — the fruit
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. craft — boats
  18. land — to come down
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. land — ground
  22. wind — moving air
  23. spring — of water
  24. craft — a handicraft

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