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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 120 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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. craft — a skill
  3. land — to come down
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. staff — employees
  8. land — ground
  9. staff — employees
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. cell — a phone
  12. kid — child
  13. craft — boats
  14. wind — moving air
  15. spell — letters
  16. pound — a weight
  17. kid — to tease
  18. land — a country
  19. spell — a short time
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cell — in biology
  22. staff — a stick
  23. spell — magic
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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