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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. squash — the sport
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. craft — boats
  5. net — in sport
  6. craft — a skill
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. spring — the season
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. scale — size or range
  11. squash — to crush
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. net — after costs
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. scale — in music
  19. spring — of water
  20. spring — a coil
  21. mine — for digging
  22. chair — a leader
  23. net — for catching
  24. straw — a straw man

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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