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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. spring — of water
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. staff — employees
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. spring — the season
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. saw — the tool
  11. court — of law
  12. stand — to bear
  13. court — of a king
  14. staff — employees
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. craft — a skill
  17. saw — the tool
  18. staff — a stick
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. branch — a division
  21. spring — a coil
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. court — for sport

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