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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. craft — a skill
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. wound — an injury
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. club — for golf
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. sharp — clever
  11. club — for dancing
  12. club — a group
  13. spring — of water
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. spring — the season
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. cold — an illness
  20. craft — boats
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. cold — not warm
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. spring — a coil

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