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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. ground — the earth
  6. squash — the sport
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. spring — a coil
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. lie — to recline
  12. cold — not warm
  13. spring — of water
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. ground — crushed
  17. ground — a position
  18. craft — boats
  19. spring — the season
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. craft — a skill
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. squash — to crush
  24. lie — an untruth

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