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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. craft — a skill
  3. cell — in biology
  4. row — a line
  5. craft — boats
  6. current — of water
  7. ground — crushed
  8. capital — a city
  9. ground — the earth
  10. cell — a phone
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. ground — a position
  13. current — electric
  14. row — to paddle
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. capital — money
  20. perch — the fish
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. current — happening now
  24. row — a quarrel

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