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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 116 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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. rest — what's left
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. fall — to drop
  8. face — to point toward
  9. cold — not warm
  10. saw — the tool
  11. perch — the fish
  12. face — part of the head
  13. fall — the season
  14. face — to confront
  15. cold — an illness
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. rest — a break
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. fall — to drop
  21. saw — the tool
  22. craft — a skill
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. rest — what's left

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