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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. hand — help
  3. cold — not warm
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. saw — the tool
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. plane — a tool
  13. craft — a skill
  14. wind — moving air
  15. hand — in cards
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cold — an illness
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. chair — a leader
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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