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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. craft — a skill
  4. tear — to rip
  5. craft — boats
  6. rash — a series
  7. staff — employees
  8. cold — an illness
  9. net — in sport
  10. net — after costs
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cold — not warm
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. tear — from crying
  15. rash — hasty
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. staff — a stick
  20. tear — from crying
  21. net — for catching
  22. staff — employees
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cell — a phone

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