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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — an illness
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. craft — a skill
  6. last — final
  7. rest — what's left
  8. last — finally
  9. shower — to wash
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. rest — what's left
  12. shower — rain
  13. file — a tool
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. file — a document
  16. file — a line of people
  17. rest — a break
  18. last — to go on
  19. cold — not warm
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. saw — the tool
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. saw — the tool

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