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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 water is too ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. craft — boats
  5. shower — to wash
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. plane — a tool
  8. court — for sport
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. saw — the tool
  14. mine — for digging
  15. craft — a skill
  16. saw — the tool
  17. court — of a king
  18. chair — a leader
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. shower — rain
  21. cold — an illness
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. court — of law

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