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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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. wake — a trail
  4. lean — thin
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. content — happy
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. shower — rain
  12. craft — a skill
  13. content — the amount
  14. tear — to rip
  15. lean — to bend
  16. kid — child
  17. cold — an illness
  18. kid — to tease
  19. craft — boats
  20. tear — from crying
  21. cold — not warm
  22. tear — from crying
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. shower — to wash

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