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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 120 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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. land — to come down
  3. game — a match
  4. swing — music
  5. cell — a phone
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. foot — a measure
  8. sharp — clever
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. swing — to play on
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. swing — in golf
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. cell — in biology
  15. land — ground
  16. game — wild animals
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. land — a country
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bear — the animal
  23. craft — a skill
  24. bear — to put up with

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