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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 teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. roll — a list
  3. content — the amount
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. swing — music
  6. content — happy
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. face — to confront
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. craft — a skill
  11. swing — to play on
  12. date — the fruit
  13. face — part of the head
  14. land — a country
  15. roll — a cake
  16. land — ground
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. face — to point toward
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. land — to come down
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. swing — in golf
  24. fork — in a road

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