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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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. land — a country
  3. land — to come down
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. net — after costs
  6. net — in sport
  7. staff — a stick
  8. land — ground
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. capital — a city
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. net — for catching
  13. craft — a skill
  14. face — to confront
  15. scale — size or range
  16. staff — employees
  17. face — part of the head
  18. staff — employees
  19. capital — money
  20. face — to point toward
  21. craft — boats
  22. cold — an illness
  23. scale — in music
  24. cold — not warm

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