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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. craft — a skill
  3. land — to come down
  4. craft — boats
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. pop — music
  7. land — ground
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. kid — child
  10. pop — to visit
  11. kid — to tease
  12. bound — obliged
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. chip — for betting
  17. pop — soda
  18. bound — tied together
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. bound — certain
  21. land — a country
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — an illness
  24. chip — to eat

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