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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. wake — a trail
  3. cold — an illness
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. wound — an injury
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. rush — hurry
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. cold — not warm
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rash — hasty
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. craft — a skill
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. craft — boats
  22. fork — in a road
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. rash — a series

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