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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. rule — government
  5. craft — boats
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. ball — a dance
  9. field — for sport
  10. face — to point toward
  11. clip — to cut
  12. capital — a city
  13. face — to confront
  14. field — farmland
  15. rule — a law
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. capital — money
  18. ball — a great time
  19. face — part of the head
  20. scale — in music
  21. clip — a video
  22. field — a subject
  23. scale — size or range
  24. clip — for paper

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