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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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. branch — of a tree
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. court — for sport
  7. cap — a hat
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. cold — an illness
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. court — of a king
  13. craft — a skill
  14. chip — for betting
  15. court — of law
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. cap — of ice
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. cold — not warm
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. branch — a division
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. wake — a trail
  24. cap — a lid

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