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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. hand — in cards
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. craft — boats
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. capital — money
  10. foot — a measure
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. sharp — clever
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. hand — help
  19. kid — child
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. capital — a city
  22. kid — to tease
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — an illness

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