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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. cold — not warm
  3. branch — a division
  4. cold — an illness
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. track — a path
  8. track — to keep track
  9. squash — to crush
  10. court — of a king
  11. track — a song
  12. pit — in a race
  13. squash — the sport
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. craft — a skill
  17. pit — a hole
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. court — for sport
  20. court — of law
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. shower — to wash
  24. shower — rain

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