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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. mug — a cup
  4. date — the fruit
  5. court — for sport
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. tube — a container
  8. court — of a king
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. mine — for digging
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. mug — to rob
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. craft — a skill
  15. mug — a face
  16. season — of the year
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. tube — the underground
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. season — in sport
  21. court — of law
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — an injury
  24. date — on the calendar

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