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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. bat — the animal
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. spring — of water
  5. present — the time now
  6. capital — a city
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. craft — a skill
  9. content — happy
  10. capital — money
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. spring — a coil
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. content — the amount
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. present — a gift
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. spring — the season
  24. present — there

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