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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. last — finally
  3. cold — not warm
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — final
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. ground — a position
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. craft — boats
  16. march — the month
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. ground — the earth
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. ground — crushed
  21. craft — a skill
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. mine — an explosive

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