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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 124 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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. craft — a skill
  5. bark — to shout
  6. cue — a hint
  7. cue — for pool
  8. wind — moving air
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cue — a signal
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. cap — of ice
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. bear — the animal
  19. cap — a lid
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. craft — boats
  22. wind — moving air
  23. cold — an illness
  24. straw — dry grass

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