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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. stand — to bear
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. kid — child
  10. craft — boats
  11. craft — a skill
  12. content — happy
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. content — the amount
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. cold — an illness
  20. kid — to tease
  21. row — to paddle
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. row — a line
  24. wave — of the sea

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