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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 rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. land — ground
  3. shower — rain
  4. capital — money
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — in cards
  7. chip — to eat
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. shower — to wash
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. craft — boats
  14. land — a country
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. chip — for betting
  17. file — a document
  18. land — to come down
  19. craft — a skill
  20. file — a line of people
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. capital — a city
  23. hand — help
  24. capital — a big letter

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