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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 120 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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  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. chair — a professorship
  2. craft — a skill
  3. cold — not warm
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. craft — boats
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. race — the arms race
  11. race — humankind
  12. snap — to click
  13. tube — a container
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. tube — the underground
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. bore — to drill
  18. chair — a leader
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. race — a contest
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bore — to tire
  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