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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. rest — what's left
  3. cold — not warm
  4. saw — the tool
  5. craft — a skill
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. craft — boats
  8. rest — what's left
  9. chest — of your body
  10. row — a line
  11. cold — an illness
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. row — to paddle
  18. saw — the tool
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. rest — a break
  22. mine — for digging
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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