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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. content — happy
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. rash — a series
  5. content — the amount
  6. current — happening now
  7. rash — hasty
  8. scale — in music
  9. craft — boats
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. capital — money
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. scale — size or range
  15. current — of water
  16. band — a music group
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. current — electric
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — a city
  24. band — a ring

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