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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. craft — a skill
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. wind — moving air
  5. key — the most important part
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. wind — moving air
  8. chest — of your body
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. key — in music
  12. chest — of your body
  13. mate — to breed
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. craft — boats
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cap — a hat
  18. cold — not warm
  19. chest — a box
  20. key — for a lock
  21. mate — a partner
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. sharp — clever
  24. mate — a friend

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