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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · kick · bat · craft · key · cold

  1. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bat — the animal
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. tear — from crying
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. key — for a lock
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. key — the most important part
  11. key — in music
  12. craft — boats
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. tear — to rip
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. kick — in football
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm

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