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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. craft — a skill
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. chip — to eat
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. row — to paddle
  9. row — a line
  10. chip — for betting
  11. wake — a trail
  12. land — ground
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. craft — boats
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. cold — an illness
  18. land — to come down
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. cold — not warm
  21. sharp — clever
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. land — a country

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