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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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. hand — in cards
  5. race — a contest
  6. race — humankind
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. squash — to crush
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. mark — a trace
  13. race — the arms race
  14. bear — the animal
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bat — the animal
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. craft — boats
  20. mark — a grade
  21. hand — help
  22. squash — the sport
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — an illness

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