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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. court — for sport
  3. mug — a face
  4. capital — money
  5. bound — tied together
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. land — a country
  9. bound — obliged
  10. mine — for digging
  11. mug — to rob
  12. craft — a skill
  13. bound — certain
  14. capital — a city
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. mug — a cup
  17. land — ground
  18. fork — in a road
  19. land — to come down
  20. court — of law
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. court — of a king
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. fork — a garden tool

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