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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 116 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. craft — a skill
  3. craft — boats
  4. fork — in a road
  5. cold — not warm
  6. sharp — clever
  7. lean — to bend
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. scale — size or range
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bat — the animal
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. scale — in music
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. lean — thin

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