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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. rush — hurry
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. bound — tied together
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. craft — a skill
  8. clip — to cut
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bound — certain
  11. swing — to play on
  12. swing — music
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. land — to come down
  15. mine — for digging
  16. saw — the tool
  17. land — a country
  18. bound — obliged
  19. swing — in golf
  20. land — ground
  21. saw — the tool
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. clip — a video

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