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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. saw — the tool
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. capital — a city
  6. kid — to tease
  7. ground — crushed
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. saw — the tool
  11. ground — a position
  12. craft — boats
  13. craft — a skill
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. hand — help
  16. sharp — clever
  17. ground — the earth
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. hand — in cards
  21. date — the fruit
  22. capital — money
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. date — on the calendar

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