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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. capital — money
  5. spring — a coil
  6. capital — a city
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. craft — boats
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. fork — in a road
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. spring — the season
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. spring — of water
  19. mine — for digging
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. bat — the animal
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. nail — for a hammer

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