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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: bass · wind · date · craft · row · hand · rule · capital

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. craft — a skill
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. rule — government
  5. capital — a city
  6. hand — help
  7. capital — money
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. craft — boats
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. hand — in cards
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. bass — low music
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. date — the fruit
  18. row — to paddle
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bass — the fish
  22. row — a line
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. bass — the instrument

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