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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 120 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 chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. craft — boats
  4. branch — a division
  5. ground — the earth
  6. spring — of water
  7. spring — the season
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. craft — a skill
  10. content — the amount
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. rest — what's left
  13. ground — a position
  14. content — happy
  15. rest — what's left
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bound — tied together
  18. cold — an illness
  19. rest — a break
  20. spring — a coil
  21. bound — obliged
  22. bound — certain
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. ground — crushed

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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