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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. wound — an injury
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. craft — a skill
  5. rule — a law
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. craft — boats
  9. wax — to grow
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. bound — obliged
  12. lean — to bend
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. bound — tied together
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. row — a line
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. lean — thin
  21. row — to paddle
  22. bound — certain
  23. rule — government
  24. fork — in a road

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