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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 124 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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. key — the most important part
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. dip — to sink
  5. kid — to tease
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. cold — an illness
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. capital — money
  14. kid — child
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. fine — high quality
  18. key — for a lock
  19. fine — all right
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — not warm
  23. craft — a skill
  24. key — in music

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