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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. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  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 — boats
  2. rock — a stone
  3. craft — a skill
  4. bear — the animal
  5. pop — soda
  6. ground — a position
  7. pop — music
  8. ball — a dance
  9. bear — the animal
  10. rock — music
  11. ground — crushed
  12. pop — to visit
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. row — to paddle
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. ball — a great time
  17. row — a line
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. ground — the earth
  20. cold — not warm
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. ball — a round shape
  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