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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 116 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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. craft — a skill
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. bark — to shout
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. craft — boats
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. staff — employees
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. capital — a city
  12. club — for golf
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. cold — not warm
  15. club — for dancing
  16. capital — money
  17. can — a tin
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. staff — a stick
  20. chair — a leader
  21. can — a tin
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. can — to be able to
  24. club — a group

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