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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 · cold · cabinet · clip · calf · fork · root · land

  1. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. land — to come down
  3. cold — not warm
  4. clip — for paper
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. clip — a video
  7. root — of a word
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. cold — an illness
  12. root — the cause
  13. craft — boats
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. land — ground
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. root — of a plant
  21. fork — in a road
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. clip — to cut
  24. land — a country

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