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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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. cold — not warm
  3. net — in sport
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. spell — a short time
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. cold — an illness
  8. scale — in music
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. craft — a skill
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. bass — low music
  13. scale — size or range
  14. net — after costs
  15. kick — in football
  16. craft — boats
  17. spell — letters
  18. bass — the fish
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. spell — magic
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. net — for catching
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. kick — with a leg

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