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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. craft — a skill
  3. track — a song
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. craft — boats
  6. row — a line
  7. capital — a city
  8. track — a path
  9. track — to keep track
  10. march — the month
  11. fine — high quality
  12. march — the month
  13. ground — crushed
  14. fine — all right
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. march — music
  17. tear — from crying
  18. capital — money
  19. tear — from crying
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. tear — to rip
  22. ground — the earth
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. row — to paddle

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