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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. craft — boats
  3. root — of a word
  4. spell — magic
  5. saw — the tool
  6. craft — a skill
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. spell — letters
  10. court — of law
  11. cold — an illness
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. cold — not warm
  14. root — of a plant
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. court — for sport
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. court — of a king
  21. root — the cause
  22. spell — a short time
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. cold — the Cold War

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