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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. chip — to eat
  3. chest — a box
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. chest — of your body
  6. march — the month
  7. capital — money
  8. capital — a city
  9. shower — to wash
  10. shower — rain
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. wind — moving air
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. wind — moving air
  16. chip — for betting
  17. bulb — for light
  18. chest — of your body
  19. march — music
  20. bulb — for light
  21. march — the month
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. craft — a skill

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