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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. craft — boats
  3. saw — the tool
  4. saw — the tool
  5. spell — a short time
  6. fall — to drop
  7. pit — a hole
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. pit — in a race
  13. craft — a skill
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. spell — letters
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. cold — an illness
  19. fall — to drop
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — not warm
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. snap — to click
  24. fall — the season

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