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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 spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. ground — the earth
  3. scale — size or range
  4. track — a path
  5. track — to keep track
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. land — ground
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. land — to come down
  10. track — a song
  11. ground — crushed
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. saw — the tool
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. scale — in music
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. saw — the tool
  18. cold — not warm
  19. pitch — completely
  20. ground — a position
  21. cold — an illness
  22. land — a country
  23. craft — boats
  24. pitch — a sports field

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