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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. last — final
  4. track — to keep track
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. last — to go on
  7. track — a song
  8. face — to point toward
  9. track — a path
  10. wound — an injury
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. craft — boats
  13. kid — child
  14. chair — a leader
  15. last — finally
  16. wound — an injury
  17. face — part of the head
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. face — to confront
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. craft — a skill
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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