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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. craft — a skill
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. craft — boats
  6. row — a line
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. ball — a great time
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. row — to paddle
  13. cap — a lid
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. cap — a hat
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. wake — a trail
  21. ball — a dance
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cap — of ice

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