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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. land — ground
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. key — in music
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. last — final
  8. chest — of your body
  9. spell — magic
  10. key — for a lock
  11. spell — a short time
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. last — to go on
  14. key — the most important part
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. chest — of your body
  17. land — to come down
  18. craft — a skill
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. land — a country
  21. last — finally
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. chest — a box
  24. spell — letters

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