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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: craft · row · plane · sharp · game · clip · tube · chest

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. row — to paddle
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. tube — the underground
  5. chest — a box
  6. craft — boats
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. row — a line
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. tube — a container
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. plane — a tool
  13. chest — of your body
  14. craft — a skill
  15. clip — a video
  16. game — wild animals
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. sharp — clever
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. clip — for paper
  22. game — a match
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. chest — of your body

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