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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. drill — a practice
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. rock — music
  5. craft — a skill
  6. bat — the animal
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. drill — army training
  11. bore — to drill
  12. drill — the tool
  13. cold — an illness
  14. rock — a stone
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. cold — not warm
  17. clip — for paper
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — to cut
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. bore — to tire
  24. bat — for baseball

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