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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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. rock — music
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. mug — to rob
  6. shower — rain
  7. mug — a face
  8. cap — a lid
  9. capital — a city
  10. snap — to click
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. cap — a hat
  14. fall — the season
  15. shower — to wash
  16. mug — a cup
  17. fall — to drop
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. fall — to drop
  20. capital — money
  21. rock — a stone
  22. craft — a skill
  23. cap — of ice
  24. rock — to move gently

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