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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. staff — employees
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. craft — boats
  5. craft — a skill
  6. wake — a trail
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. hand — in cards
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. squash — the sport
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. hand — help
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. staff — a stick
  16. squash — to crush
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. staff — employees
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. date — the fruit
  24. date — on the calendar

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