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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 120 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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. chip — to eat
  3. land — ground
  4. craft — a skill
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. march — the month
  8. chip — for betting
  9. bank — of a river
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. snap — to click
  12. bank — for money
  13. march — music
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. land — to come down
  19. land — a country
  20. march — the month
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. bank — for money
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wake — a trail

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