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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. rash — hasty
  3. cold — an illness
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. rash — a series
  6. squash — to crush
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. chest — a box
  9. craft — boats
  10. cold — not warm
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. game — a match
  13. chest — of your body
  14. craft — a skill
  15. squash — the sport
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. key — for a lock
  18. game — wild animals
  19. key — in music
  20. key — the most important part
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. chest — of your body
  24. pitcher — a jug

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