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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 has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. tear — to rip
  3. track — a path
  4. row — a line
  5. track — a song
  6. craft — boats
  7. file — a tool
  8. tear — from crying
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. row — to paddle
  11. march — music
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. tear — from crying
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. march — the month
  16. capital — a city
  17. chip — to eat
  18. craft — a skill
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. track — to keep track
  21. march — the month
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a line of people
  24. capital — money

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