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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. pit — in a race
  4. rule — a law
  5. craft — boats
  6. content — happy
  7. craft — a skill
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. rule — government
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. row — a line
  14. wind — moving air
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. fork — in a road
  18. wind — moving air
  19. content — the amount
  20. row — to paddle
  21. pit — a hole
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. craft — a handicraft

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