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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. craft — boats
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bear — the animal
  6. cold — an illness
  7. last — to go on
  8. spring — the season
  9. bear — the animal
  10. cold — not warm
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. last — finally
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — of water
  18. last — final

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