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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. stand — to bear
  3. wound — an injury
  4. craft — a skill
  5. spring — the season
  6. snap — to click
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. spring — of water
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. fine — all right
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. craft — boats
  15. cold — not warm
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. cold — an illness
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. spring — a coil
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. wound — an injury

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