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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. wind — moving air
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. wind — moving air
  6. roll — a list
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. roll — a cake
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. rash — hasty
  17. chest — of your body
  18. craft — a skill
  19. prune — to trim
  20. kick — in football
  21. rash — a series
  22. chest — a box
  23. prune — to trim
  24. chest — of your body

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