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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. craft — boats
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. row — a line
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. plane — a tool
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. craft — a skill
  11. wound — an injury
  12. game — wild animals
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. row — to paddle
  17. present — the time now
  18. cold — an illness
  19. lie — to recline
  20. present — there
  21. game — a match
  22. cold — not warm
  23. present — a gift
  24. craft — a handicraft

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