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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: mine · cap · cell · craft · mate · game · scale · chip

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. mate — a partner
  3. scale — size or range
  4. mate — a friend
  5. chip — for betting
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — a phone
  9. craft — a skill
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. scale — in music
  12. mate — to breed
  13. game — a match
  14. cell — in biology
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. cap — of ice
  19. cap — a hat
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. cap — a lid
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. game — wild animals
  24. chip — to eat

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