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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 116 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 · mine · kid · face · drill · rock · sharp · ground

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. sharp — clever
  4. rock — music
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. ground — a position
  7. face — to confront
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. ground — crushed
  10. kid — to tease
  11. face — part of the head
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. face — to point toward
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. craft — a skill
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. craft — boats
  18. drill — a practice
  19. ground — the earth
  20. mine — for digging
  21. rock — a stone
  22. drill — the tool
  23. drill — army training
  24. sharp — exactly

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