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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. fall — the season
  4. chip — to eat
  5. track — a path
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. fall — to drop
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. fall — to drop
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. stand — to bear
  12. capital — money
  13. rule — government
  14. capital — a city
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. chip — for betting
  17. cold — not warm
  18. track — a song
  19. track — to keep track
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. craft — boats
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. rule — a law

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