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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. craft — boats
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. net — in sport
  6. capital — money
  7. net — after costs
  8. stem — to come from
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. craft — a skill
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — to rip
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. capital — a city
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. land — to come down
  19. net — for catching
  20. tear — from crying
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. land — ground

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