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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 116 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. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. tear — from crying
  4. rule — a law
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. rock — a stone
  7. rock — music
  8. cold — an illness
  9. tear — from crying
  10. ground — a position
  11. bulb — for light
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. craft — boats
  14. band — a ring
  15. cold — not warm
  16. rule — government
  17. tear — to rip
  18. ground — the earth
  19. band — a music group
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. ground — crushed
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. bulb — for light
  24. cold — the Cold War

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