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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 spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. spell — letters
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. spell — magic
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. spring — the season
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. last — final
  10. spring — a coil
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. cold — an illness
  14. last — to go on
  15. cold — not warm
  16. spell — a short time
  17. band — a music group
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. craft — boats
  20. band — a ring
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. spring — of water
  23. last — finally
  24. band — a rubber band

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