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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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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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. band — a music group
  3. season — of the year
  4. pound — a weight
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. craft — a skill
  7. season — in sport
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. craft — boats
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. band — a ring
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — an illness
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. band — a rubber band

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