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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. land — to come down
  3. game — a match
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. capital — a city
  6. craft — boats
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — from crying
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. land — a country
  12. wake — a trail
  13. craft — a skill
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. saw — the tool
  17. capital — money
  18. saw — the tool
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. tear — to rip
  21. game — wild animals
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. land — ground

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