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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. face — to confront
  3. capital — a city
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. ground — a position
  8. ground — crushed
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. rash — hasty
  11. rash — a series
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. capital — money
  14. wound — an injury
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. fork — in a road
  19. face — to point toward
  20. craft — a skill
  21. face — part of the head
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. wound — an injury
  24. ground — the earth

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