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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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — not warm
  5. chest — a box
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. chest — of your body
  9. craft — a skill
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. ground — a position
  14. swing — music
  15. swing — to play on
  16. chest — of your body
  17. craft — boats
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. ground — the earth
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. ground — crushed
  23. swing — in golf
  24. cold — an illness

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