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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. craft — boats
  5. fine — all right
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. sharp — clever
  8. band — a ring
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. cold — an illness
  11. wake — a trail
  12. fine — high quality
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. race — the arms race
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. pass — a permit
  18. race — humankind
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. craft — a skill
  22. race — a contest
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. band — a music group

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