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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 120 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: bay · craft · hand · land · spring · tube · spell · chair

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. land — to come down
  3. hand — in cards
  4. spring — of water
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. tube — a container
  8. craft — boats
  9. spell — magic
  10. tube — the underground
  11. spell — a short time
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. land — ground
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — the season
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. craft — a skill
  21. land — a country
  22. chair — a leader
  23. hand — help
  24. tube — in a tire

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