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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. spring — the season
  4. drill — the tool
  5. snap — to click
  6. craft — a skill
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. band — a music group
  10. bear — the animal
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. craft — boats
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. spring — of water
  17. drill — a practice
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. cell — in biology
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. spring — a coil
  22. drill — army training
  23. bear — the animal
  24. cell — a phone

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