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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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. ground — a position
  3. capital — money
  4. file — a document
  5. file — a tool
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. ground — the earth
  10. craft — boats
  11. scale — size or range
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. bat — the animal
  14. capital — a city
  15. shower — rain
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. ground — crushed
  18. scale — in music
  19. shower — to wash
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. file — a line of people
  24. bat — in an idiom

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