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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 120 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. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — a stone
  2. cold — not warm
  3. craft — boats
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. rock — music
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. swing — to play on
  9. swing — in golf
  10. craft — a skill
  11. spring — of water
  12. fall — the season
  13. fall — to drop
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. spring — a coil
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. fall — to drop
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. spring — the season
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. swing — music

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