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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: sharp · cap · craft · pitcher · file · wake · tear · land

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. land — a country
  3. cap — of ice
  4. sharp — clever
  5. craft — boats
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. cap — a lid
  9. file — a document
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. file — a tool
  13. wake — a trail
  14. cap — a hat
  15. file — a line of people
  16. tear — from crying
  17. craft — a skill
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. land — ground
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. tear — to rip
  23. tear — from crying
  24. land — to come down

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