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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. track — a song
  4. prune — to trim
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — an injury
  7. track — a path
  8. capital — a city
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. band — a ring
  12. capital — money
  13. prune — to trim
  14. rule — government
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. track — to keep track
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. band — a music group
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. rule — a law
  22. craft — a skill
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. rule — to rule out

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