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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. craft — boats
  3. season — of the year
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. mate — a friend
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. mate — to breed
  8. chair — a leader
  9. mate — a partner
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. snap — to click
  14. game — wild animals
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. row — a line
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. row — to paddle
  22. game — a match
  23. season — in sport
  24. craft — a skill

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