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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. content — happy
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. bank — of a river
  5. craft — boats
  6. snap — to click
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. bank — for money
  10. march — music
  11. cold — not warm
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. march — the month
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. cold — an illness
  16. march — the month
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. branch — a division
  19. kick — in football
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. bank — for money
  24. content — the amount

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