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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. spring — the season
  3. cold — not warm
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. craft — boats
  6. row — to paddle
  7. mate — a partner
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. spring — of water
  13. spring — a coil
  14. swing — in golf
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. lean — thin
  17. wax — to grow
  18. cold — an illness
  19. mate — a friend
  20. swing — to play on
  21. row — a line
  22. mate — to breed
  23. lean — to bend
  24. swing — music

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