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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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. row — a line
  4. sharp — clever
  5. craft — a skill
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. can — a tin
  8. pop — to visit
  9. pop — music
  10. can — to be able to
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. can — a tin
  15. row — to paddle
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. hand — help
  19. wake — a trail
  20. craft — boats
  21. chair — a leader
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. pop — soda
  24. hand — in cards

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