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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. fall — to drop
  4. craft — boats
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. craft — a skill
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. row — a line
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. kid — to tease
  11. pit — a hole
  12. pit — in a race
  13. mine — for digging
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. row — to paddle
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. fall — the season
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. march — music
  21. fall — to drop
  22. kid — child
  23. march — the month
  24. craft — a handicraft

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