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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. wind — moving air
  5. craft — boats
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. net — in sport
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. hand — help
  12. net — after costs
  13. net — for catching
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. hand — in cards
  18. march — the month
  19. capital — money
  20. rash — a series
  21. capital — a city
  22. march — music
  23. craft — a skill
  24. rash — hasty

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