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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 124 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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. row — a line
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. sharp — clever
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. spring — the season
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. spring — of water
  10. bound — obliged
  11. kid — to tease
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. row — to paddle
  15. bound — tied together
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. spring — a coil
  18. bound — certain
  19. craft — a skill
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. date — the fruit
  22. kid — child
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. date — on the calendar

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