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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. clip — for paper
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. mine — for digging
  6. last — to go on
  7. cap — a lid
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. last — final
  10. capital — money
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. clip — a video
  13. cap — a hat
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. craft — boats
  16. last — finally
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. charge — a price
  19. cap — of ice
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. capital — a city
  22. charge — electricity
  23. charge — in control
  24. clip — to cut

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