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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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  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 handicraft
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. shower — rain
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. craft — a skill
  8. cold — not warm
  9. present — there
  10. craft — boats
  11. present — a gift
  12. rash — hasty
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. net — for catching
  15. net — after costs
  16. net — in sport
  17. present — the time now
  18. file — a tool
  19. file — a document
  20. rash — a series
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. file — a line of people
  23. shower — to wash
  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