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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. pit — a hole
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pit — in a race
  5. toast — bread
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. root — the cause
  11. mine — for digging
  12. cold — not warm
  13. root — of a plant
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. stock — goods
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. root — of a word
  18. bear — the animal
  19. stock — shares
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. craft — a skill
  24. cold — the Cold War

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