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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. rash — a series
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. craft — boats
  5. rash — hasty
  6. spring — of water
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. spring — the season
  9. snap — to click
  10. row — to paddle
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. row — a line
  14. chest — of your body
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. game — a match
  17. spring — a coil
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. craft — a skill
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. drill — the tool
  23. drill — army training
  24. game — wild animals

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