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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. tear — from crying
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. chest — of your body
  5. club — for dancing
  6. board — to get on
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. chest — of your body
  9. lean — to bend
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — to rip
  12. craft — a skill
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. club — for golf
  16. bulb — for light
  17. lean — thin
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. craft — boats
  20. club — a group
  21. board — a committee
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. chest — a box
  24. cold — an illness

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