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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 120 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 fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  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. bass — the fish
  2. craft — a skill
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. cold — not warm
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. rush — hurry
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. tear — from crying
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bass — low music
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. tear — to rip
  19. craft — boats
  20. cold — an illness
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. snap — to click
  23. bass — the instrument
  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