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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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. shower — to wash
  3. last — final
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. land — a country
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. land — to come down
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. shower — rain
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. pitch — completely
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. craft — boats
  16. last — to go on
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. land — ground
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. last — finally
  24. craft — a skill

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