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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 reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. rush — hurry
  3. craft — a skill
  4. spring — the season
  5. craft — boats
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. capital — money
  10. mate — a partner
  11. mate — to breed
  12. shower — to wash
  13. bound — obliged
  14. spring — of water
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bat — the animal
  17. capital — a city
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. mate — a friend
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. bound — certain
  23. spring — a coil
  24. shower — rain

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