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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. face — part of the head
  3. capital — money
  4. object — to protest
  5. cold — an illness
  6. object — a thing
  7. wake — a trail
  8. spring — of water
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. spring — the season
  11. craft — boats
  12. spring — a coil
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. face — to confront
  15. face — to point toward
  16. cold — not warm
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. object — an aim
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. capital — a city
  24. craft — a handicraft

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