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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. craft — a skill
  3. hand — help
  4. current — happening now
  5. craft — boats
  6. spring — the season
  7. rule — a law
  8. sharp — clever
  9. kid — to tease
  10. spring — of water
  11. swing — to play on
  12. spring — a coil
  13. current — electric
  14. swing — music
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. hand — in cards
  20. kid — child
  21. rule — government
  22. current — of water
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. swing — in golf

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