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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: bowl · craft · chest · sharp · fork · capital · spell · rule

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — money
  4. chest — of your body
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. spell — a short time
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. rule — a law
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. sharp — clever
  14. spell — magic
  15. craft — a skill
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. chest — a box
  18. rule — government
  19. spell — letters
  20. chest — of your body
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. fork — in a road
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. craft — a handicraft

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