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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. march — the month
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. spring — the season
  12. spring — of water
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. cold — an illness
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. scale — in music
  17. march — the month
  18. kick — in football
  19. cold — not warm
  20. scale — size or range
  21. march — music
  22. craft — a skill
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. spring — a coil

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