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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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. face — to confront
  7. craft — boats
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. cold — not warm
  10. tube — the underground
  11. face — to point toward
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. rash — a series
  15. craft — a skill
  16. march — the month
  17. fork — in a road
  18. march — music
  19. face — part of the head
  20. tube — a container
  21. cold — an illness
  22. rash — hasty
  23. march — the month
  24. tube — in a tire

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