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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. craft — a skill
  5. scale — in music
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. cold — an illness
  9. craft — boats
  10. bound — obliged
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — the fish
  14. last — finally
  15. last — final
  16. scale — size or range
  17. last — to go on
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. cold — not warm
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. bound — tied together

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