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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. stand — to bear
  3. spell — magic
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. file — a tool
  7. spell — letters
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. craft — boats
  12. cap — a lid
  13. file — a line of people
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. spell — a short time
  17. band — a music group
  18. cold — not warm
  19. snap — to click
  20. file — a document
  21. craft — a skill
  22. cap — of ice
  23. band — a ring
  24. cap — a hat

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