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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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. cell — a phone
  6. craft — boats
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. lean — to bend
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. lean — thin
  14. spring — the season
  15. spring — of water
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. craft — a skill
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. cell — in biology
  22. spring — a coil
  23. pitch — completely
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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