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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. bear — the animal
  3. craft — a skill
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. band — a music group
  10. bear — the animal
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. cold — an illness
  13. mine — for digging
  14. cold — not warm
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. squash — the sport
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bulb — for light
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. squash — to crush
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. bulb — for light
  24. band — a ring

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