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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wound · chest · mouse · spell · rule · craft · capital · row

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. row — a line
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. craft — boats
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. wound — an injury
  7. capital — a city
  8. craft — a skill
  9. row — to paddle
  10. spell — a short time
  11. spell — magic
  12. chest — of your body
  13. capital — money
  14. chest — a box
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. chest — of your body
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. rule — government
  20. spell — letters
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. rule — a law
  24. wound — an injury

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