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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 120 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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. clip — to cut
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — an illness
  5. last — final
  6. rush — hurry
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. clip — a video
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. craft — a skill
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. last — to go on
  15. content — the amount
  16. craft — boats
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. last — finally
  19. lie — to recline
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. clip — for paper
  24. content — happy

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