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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. tear — from crying
  3. row — a line
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. craft — boats
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. last — to go on
  8. cold — not warm
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. last — final
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. row — to paddle
  18. last — finally
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. tear — to rip
  22. cold — an illness
  23. tear — from crying
  24. lash — an eyelash

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