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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. bat — the animal
  3. last — finally
  4. craft — a skill
  5. saw — the tool
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. craft — boats
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. last — final
  15. swing — music
  16. last — to go on
  17. swing — to play on
  18. swing — in golf
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. pass — a permit
  21. snap — to click
  22. cold — an illness
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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