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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. craft — a skill
  3. spring — the season
  4. ball — a dance
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. spring — of water
  8. race — the arms race
  9. chest — a box
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. stand — to bear
  12. spring — a coil
  13. row — to paddle
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. race — a contest
  16. ball — a great time
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. chest — of your body
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. row — a line
  22. craft — boats
  23. chest — of your body
  24. race — humankind

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