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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. band — a ring
  4. bulb — for light
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. craft — boats
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. cold — not warm
  10. press — a publisher
  11. shower — to wash
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. shower — rain
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bulb — for light
  18. fork — in a road
  19. craft — a skill
  20. snap — to click
  21. band — a music group
  22. press — newspapers
  23. press — to push
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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