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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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. net — for catching
  3. land — a country
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. craft — boats
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. chip — to eat
  8. chip — for betting
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. bark — to shout
  11. perch — the fish
  12. tear — from crying
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. craft — a skill
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — ground
  17. cold — not warm
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. net — in sport
  21. net — after costs
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — to rip
  24. cold — an illness

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